


Four Eighths

by Adrenaline_Roulette



Category: 6 Underground (2019)
Genre: #gotta make ends meet, #sometimes to do that, #student life, #whoops, #you just gotta start stealing some money, Angst, Combat Training, Comfort, Computer Programming, Computer Viruses, Computers, Confessions, Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit Language, F/M, Faked Suicide, Fluff, Four is a sassy lil lad, Four is also a bit of a dick in chapter 3, Four is redeemed, Funny, Grief/Mourning, Hacker, Hacking, Heartfelt, Heist, Medical Procedures, Minor Medical, Morning After, One is a little bit confused by Four, Original Character Death(s), Reckless Driving, Revelations, Robbery, Sass, Sassy, Shameless Smut, Slow Burn, Smut, So is One though, Surprise fighting skills, Swearing, Teasing, Tension, Two and Five are literal children, drunk, eight is a bad ass, fake death, finally we get some fluff, four is the fairy king, hes really not but everyone just lets him think he is to help keep the peace, marital arts history, maybe just don't let eight drive in a school zone or anything like that though, mission briefing, one thinks hes running things around here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:40:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 58,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22346536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrenaline_Roulette/pseuds/Adrenaline_Roulette
Summary: A tech genius turned freelance hacker, turns to a life of crime in order to make ends meet, and to pay her bills. But what happens when she robs the wrong man?“You’re lucky I only shot your arm, I was half tempted to aim one at your leg too!”“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Do you expect me to thank you for only shooting me once?”“You’re sassy, I like you.”
Relationships: Four Billy/ Eight (You), Four | Billy (6 Underground)/Reader
Comments: 15
Kudos: 85





	1. Finding yourself

**Author's Note:**

> Well hello there!  
> Look, I’m embarrassed and ashamed to admit this, but it’s taken me up until this past weekend to finally getting around to watching 6 Underground.  
> Now let me tell you, that shit was intense, hilarious, amazing, and my golly gosh, Ben Hardy has stolen my heart once again! There I was, thinking that he couldn’t get any more attractive after playing Roger, but no! I was oh so very wrong!  
> So basically, I fell down a rabbit hole of Four x Reader fics, and then while I was driving to work the other morning, I had an idea of my own for a story, and now here we are!  
> I’ll let you all know now, this first chapter is basically just introducing Eight, but as of chapter 2 (Which will likely either be out tonight or at the very least by the end of this week), we will begin to get into the actual plot, and lets be honest, the smut. (We all want it, don’t pretend you don’t!)  
> I’m hoping you all enjoy this, and I would love to hear from you if you do!

**⫷⫷⫸⫸**

When your friends had asked you to join them for a night out on Friday, you had lied and said you had already made other plans. It wasn’t entirely a lie, however to most people, by saying you had plans, one would think they would involve you going out, and interacting with other people. This however, was not the case. To an extent you _were_ interacting with people, actually no, let’s rephrase that, you were interacting with other people’s money.  
  


Technology was your forte, everyone knew this, whether they understood the extent of your knowledge in the field, that was another question entirely. During school, all your subjects revolved around computer sciences, and it was to no one’s surprise when you had selected a degree in this exact field. Though you quickly found your assignments to be mundane and repetitive, designing a fully functioning website? You did that in your free time when you were seventeen!  
Create an app which allowed users to stream Netflix onto two screens at the same time? You had one upped that assignment with ease, your app allowed people to stream Netflix on one screen, YouTube on another screen, Or you could split screen, and have both playing at the same time on the same screen.  
Needless to say, while you professors were impressed with your abilities, your classmates were often found to be leering at you, snarky comments about how ‘because of you getting such a high grade, everyone else’s got dropped lower because they couldn’t compete.’  
To you though, this wasn’t a competition, it was just something you loved to do!  
Of course, after years of doing the same sort of thing, your interests inevitably began to change. You knew the ins and outs of most apps and websites by now, you had studied them relentlessly when in the process of developing your own. So really, how hard would it be to use their coding against them, wreak a little havoc from the inside?

You had started off innocently enough, getting into your friend’s social media accounts, tweaking things in their settings just to get on their nerves. Slowly you built up to larger scale hacking, such as remotely logging into your professor’s laptop, not only finding the answers to the next five tests your class had, (Which you promptly made several copies of, selling them to your classmates online for $100 each) but also retrieving a few passwords that could have been far stronger than they were, (There’s a reason why most websites tell you if your password is weak, it’s to try and stop people like you from figuring it out!)  
With the passwords at hand, you were able to grant yourself access to _anything_ you wanted in relation to your professor. His bank account details? You had them. The password to access his bank account? Well that just so happened to be the same password he used for his emails, which, _oh look,_ you had that too!  
You had the ability to transfer all of his money from his account and into yours, something which you found yourself unable to do, despite his flawed internet security, you had no issue with the Professor, and although your moral compass was severely lacking by now, it was still strong enough to sway you away from robbing the man.

Your moral compass could only last for so long though, bills were piling up, your tuition fee was astronomical, add on top of that, your rent for the small apartment you had decided to stay in, to both escape your parents, and to avoid student housing, well the landlord had just upped the cost by $150 per week. You had a part time job, but the shifts had been dwindling as of late, and your savings account had reached dangerously low levels.  
Anyone else in your situation would do the same if they knew how, you told yourself as you found yourself diving deeper into a list of names you had found after weeks of searching.  
The list played host to the names of multi-millionaires who were so called, ‘off the grid’. The people who were in hiding for one reason or another, the people who even the government didn’t know about, and definitely the kind of people that you, a broke student, should have _nothing_ to do with, or know they exist.

All you had to do was select a name, just any name, then came the hard part, snoop around and find everything you need to grant yourself access to their bank.  
It was one thing to find the details needed when it was your Professor, but a totally other thing when it came the people on this list. These were the kind of people who had passwords to protect their passwords, passwords!  
Your eyes scan over the list one final time, before stopping on a somewhat familiar name. “What are you doing here?” You hum out, cocking your head to the side as you make up your mind, this is the person.

It took close to three weeks before you had retrieved all the information you required, and in that time, your savings were now obsolete, but that didn’t matter, it was Friday night, and you were about to make yourself filthy rich!  
“Sorry mate, it’s either this or I move back home.” You smirk, spinning back and forth on the black leather computer chair, your eyes sparkling as you look over the enormous number which was the balance of this strangers account.  
You knew what you were doing with this part, quickly you entered in the necessary details, answering each and every security question with ease, before it finally came time to transfer the money to your account.  
“Just a bit to start with.” You decide, removing a few of the 0’s you had added for the amount you would transfer, “Can’t have the banks getting suspicious.”

********

The man stared at his phone, eyes narrowing into slits as he glared at the ever-changing bank balance. He hadn’t noticed it at first, I mean there was always so much money in there, how was he supposed to remember exactly how much he had? But the balance was dropping rapidly now, not by enough to cause him any concern, but surely enough to get on his nerves.  
There was nothing he could do to stop this though; he could hardly walk into his bank and demand they track down whoever had somehow gained access to his account.

No, he would have to solve this problem himself, surely it couldn’t be that hard to track them down, right?

********

Hacking was one hell of a slippery slope. One minute you were stealing someone’s money, and the next, you were assisting a group thieves who were robbing an exhibition which had come to the City’s largest museum.  
The exhibition was a collection of Georgian era clothes, and jewellery, which had been travelling across the globe, displaying some of the most exquisite pieces of fashion the world had ever seen. So far, the collection had made it three quarters of the way through its journey, and it was set to remain in your city for two months, before being packed up and moving on once again.  
  


You don’t know whose idea it was for you all to use walkie talkies to communicate, but you felt like a child playing spies when you were handed yours that night. You didn’t give yourself the chance to think about that for too long though, as you quickly logged on to your set up, having situated yourself in a hotel which stood right across from the museum. Usually it was packed with tourists, though after offering to pay triple the price for a room with a view of the museum for the night, miraculously the staff had found you an empty room.  
You had spent the entire afternoon lugging your bags up to the room, all your computer components securely housed in each bag.  
None of the hotel staff had paid you any mind as you brought up you twelfth and final bag, simply turning a blind eye to the oddity of the situation.

“Okay, I have eyes on the security guards.” You announce through your walkie talkie, eyes trained on one of the monitors which mirrored what the security cameras inside the museum saw. “Foxtrot, you need to go left up ahead. Romeo, stand still, don’t move until I say so, there’s a guard right near you. Lima, you are getting way too close to a camera up ahead, either turn right now and go another way, or wait a few moments for it to pan back the way it came.”

This situation was stressful as hell, but the adrenaline which pumped through your veins kept you going, igniting a fire within you which begged for more.  
The trio in the museum listened to your every word, obeying each command as they crept closer to their target.  
An oval room near the far left of the museum, in this room there sat twenty pedestals, each playing host to necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets. Glass boxes encasing each item to keep them safe and protected. Not for much longer.  
“I can hear footsteps Quebec.” Lima whispers to you, and you frown, looking back to your monitors, scanning for anyone who may be approaching. At first you missed it, your eyes moving on to the next screen, but quickly they dart back, landing on a guard who had been up until a few minutes ago, permanently positioned near the bathrooms.

“Fuck, yes I see him. Foxtrot, Romeo, your path is clear for the rest of the way, but stop when you get to the doors of the oval room, don’t go in until I say so.” You watch the two figures nod their heads in understanding, before making their way as instructed.  
“Lima, go back the way you came, see if you can get into the storage closet at the end of the hall, I’ll tell you when to come out.”

“Quebec, we’re here and ready to go in.” Foxtrot announces, as you watch Lima close the closet door behind him, the guard who had been closing in on him none the wiser.

“Okay, here’s where it’s going to get loud.” You announce, turning to a new computer, fingers gliding across the keyboard at lighting speed. Delving deep into the security system for the museum, you finally stop when a window pops open, requesting an override password. You had three chances to get this right, and you had four theories of what the password was.  
‘Incorrect password’ the window reads, before you enter your second attempt. You hold your breath, waiting for the same message to appear, though this time it doesn’t.  
“Thank fuck.” You mumble, typing in the code needed for your distraction.

The fire alarms blares to life, a loud siren sounding throughout the entire museum. The security guards do just as you had expected, they all leave their posts and make their way to the front desk, all trying to find out what had caused the alarm to begin. It wouldn’t take them long to come to the conclusion that the alarm had tripped itself, but it would give your team long enough to smash and grab what they could.  
The sound of three hammers simultaneously smashing glass in the oval room is obscured by the alarm, and you watch as your masked teammates snatch up jewellery left, right and centre, shoving the items into their backpacks  
“That’s the last of it.” Foxtrot informs you, throwing the bag back over his shoulder.

“Okay, this is where we go blind, I’m cutting the cameras now, anyone who looks through them will see you arrive, but will never see you leave.”  
This is the tricky part, not only for your team who have to navigate their way out of the museum through the back entrance without your eyes to guide them. But also for you, who must now cut the security cameras for the entire museum, and then for the street cameras from the buildings out the back of the museum. You don’t have to do all the cameras outside, just enough to give your team room to make a clean getaway, leaving no trace of them to be found.  
You swipe your phone unlocked, resting it on the desk beside you, hitting shuffle on your playlist, Nutbush city limits playing at full volume. Smiling, you get to work, the song adding to the exhilaration of what you had just done. Sure, not many people would be proud of robbing priceless artefacts from a museum, but hey, each to their own.

As you finish with the last building, its cameras shut off, your music drowns out the sound of the hotel door clicking shut softly.  
“Alright, you have a camera free street ahead of you. I’ll see you back at the rendezvous point for my cut.” You sign off on the walkie talkie, switching it off, after hearing an affirmative from your team on the ground.  
“Fuck yeah!” You cry happily, clapping your hands together three times, taking a moment to congratulate yourself on pulling off something that was this large scale.

“I wouldn’t say fuck yeah, in fact, I was leaning more towards fuck you.” Comes a voice from behind you, causing you to leap to your feet in surprise, spinning on the spot to face the stranger in your room.

“Who the hell are you?” You shriek, hands grabbing blindly at the desk behind you, searching for something you could use to defend yourself with.

“I’m the man you’ve been robbing for the past few months. I’m also the man who is going to kill you for doing so.”

Your fingers wrap around a solid object, and you lift it before you, holding it up in self-defence. You realise too late, that the hotel provided paper weight you were wielding, was nothing against the gun that was pointed directly at your chest.


	2. We all die one day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this, thank you so much!  
> Chapter one was mostly just introducing the reader's character, but this chapter is very dialogue heavy, but in a good way. At least I hope it's good!
> 
> Let me know what you think, and I can't wait to show you what I have planned for the next few chapters!
> 
> Peace and love my dudes <3

Screaming, that’s all you could hear when you woke up, your ears ringing with the shrill cries which echoed inside your head. Who was screaming and why? You don’t remember anyone screaming before you fell asleep last night, though to be fair, you don’t recall falling asleep either. The last thing you could remember was signing off from your walkie talkie, promising to meet your team once they had made it out of the museum safely.  
Had you fallen asleep in your hotel room before you got the chance to find your team?

The screaming was interrupted by an odd poking and pulling sensation at your bicep. The feeling was dulled, and you struggled to place what could be causing such an odd feeling.   
With a groan, you try to stretch, and familiarise yourself with where you had allowed yourself to fall asleep. Wherever it was, it didn’t feel like somewhere you had slept before, and to your surprise you find that you are unable to sit upright, or really move at all!  
Your heart hammers in your chest as fear sets in, your fight or flight senses kicking in, as your mind immediately comes to the conclusion that you were in danger. Eyes flying open, it takes you a few moments for them to adjust to the dim lighting of the room you were in. From what you could make out, laying on your back and blinking up at the ceiling, this was not a room you were familiar with in the slightest.   
It hurts to do so, but you tilt your head to the side, coming face to face with one of the most beautiful women you had ever laid eyes on, and stood right behind her, peering over her shoulder at your bicep where her fingers were working, was someone you recognised.

“Good, you’re awake. Try not to move too much, I need to get this all stitched up first.” The woman informs you, her eyes darting up to meet yours briefly, before focusing intently on your arm once more.

‘All stitched up?’, her words echo in your mind, until you feel your brain go into overdrive, memories of last night come flooding back to you at full speed.   
That man, the one here now, he _shot_ you!   
The screaming in your head when you first woke up, that was yours. You remember vaguely that you had screamed for a solid ten minutes after the bullet had pierced your flesh, you would’ve screamed longer, but the man had marched up to you and clamped his hand over your mouth, preventing you from going on.   
He had then wrapped his arm around your waist, as you made your slow lumbering way out of the hotel room, dizzy from the sight of your wounded arm. He had turned to shoot one final bullet through the window, why he did that, you honestly had no clue, but you didn’t have the strength or energy to ask, and the last thing you remember was falling into the corner of the elevator as you both rode it down to the basement parking garage.

The woman wrapped a bandage around your arm, taking a step back and clearing the tools she had used on your arm. “All done, I would say you can move now, but it looks like One has other ideas.” She shrugged, taking one final look at you, before turning on her heel, and walking out of the room.

Once again, her words had struck a chord, ‘One has other ideas.’ The hell did that mean? It struck you however, that the woman was right, and when you attempted to move anything below your neck, you were unable to do so. Something was keeping you bound to the bed you were on, at least you think it’s a bed….  
“I would say sorry about your arm, but I won’t. You deserved it.” The man, your attacker, shrugged, his voice dripping with thinly veiled sarcasm, arms folded across his chest, as he paced back and forth in front of you.

“What the fuck do you mean, I deserved it?” You hiss out, trying one last time to break free from your restraints. It was no use, your body was aching, and the more you struggled, the more pain shot up through your injured arm.

The man paused in his pacing, looking directly down at you, his brown eyes meeting yours as if challenging you to get up. “I thought we covered this last night? You’ve been steadily draining my bank account for months now. You’re lucky I only shot your arm, I was half tempted to aim one at your leg too!”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Do you expect me to thank you for _only_ shooting me _once_?” You spit, a hard glare glossing over your eyes. Sure, you may not be able to move right now, but that sure as hell wouldn’t stop you from fighting with your words if necessary.

What happens next honestly surprises you, the man laughs, the corners of his eyes crinkling in mirth. “You’re sassy, I like you.” He grins, picking dirt out from beneath his fingernails.  
“In all honesty, I’m actually rather impressed with you. I don’t know how the hell you managed it, but the fact that you were able to get into my account in the first place, jeez, that takes some serious talent.”

You blink slowly, taking his words in, your confusion written clearly across your features. “I really don’t know what you want me to say, or do for that matter. Like, I’m sorry that I stole from you, but I didn’t think anyone was using that account. I figured it was just money floating in limbo.” If you could, you would shrug, but with your aching arm, and restrained body, it simply wasn’t an option.

He nods his head, the light smattering of gray hairs on his temples catching in the dim lighting. “Yeah, that’s one of the downsides to being dead, people assume you’re not going to be using your money anymore. Funny that.” He smirks, crouching down to be eye level with you now.  
“I have a proposition for you. A job offer to be exact.”

You perk up at this, thinking better of asking questions over his comment on being dead. “What’s the gig?”

He grins, teeth shining brilliant white. “There’s a team of us, people who have select skills, who when put together in a group, become unstoppable. We do the dirty work the government doesn’t want anything to do with, we get rid of the people who are capable of mass destruction, while our government sits back, and waits patiently for things to simply, blow over.” He pauses, watching you for a few moments to ensure you were listening. “Did you hear about what happened in Turgistan last year?”

“That was where that Dictator was orchestrating attacks on his own people, yeah? The country revolted against him and then, I think they killed him didn’t they?”

“Mhm, that’s right, and the only reason why any of that happened, was because we were there. Our team found his brother, and helped him take control, to be the leader Turgistan needed. Our government wanted nothing to do with Rovach Alimov, and couldn’t care less that he was killing his own people. So we took matters into our own hands.” He pauses to take a breath, eyes clouding over for a moment, before pressing on. “If it isn’t happening to their people, or on their land, then our government doesn’t give a shit about anything else going on in the world. Until the threat spreads to them, they refuse to help.”

You take in his every word, unsure if you could possibly believe that this man had orchestrated one of the largest revolutions of the past few decades.   
“That’s incredible, _if_ your team did all of that I mean.”

“We did, we really did. There’s plenty more where Rovach Alimov came from, and we plan on removing them all, before they can destroy anyone, or anything else.”

Your arm tingles, the anaesthetic that had been used now clearly wearing off. “I appreciate what you’re saying, really I do, but I don’t see what this has to do with me?”

The man stands up once again, hands resting in the pockets of his jeans. “Look, here’s the thing. You managed to break through god knows how many security measurements I had set up, just to get to my bank. And that heist you pulled off last night, I saw the whole thing. You were tapped into the entire museum, you could see everyone, and you were across the street! Not to mention the fact that you disabled the security cameras for half of the street out the back for your team to escape. Now, just imagine what you could do with _all_ my funds at your disposal, and with months of prep time, and a team of six working right beside you, feeding you all the information you could possibly need.”

Your mouth goes dry at his offer, the adrenaline you had felt during the robbery last night, it was intoxicating and addictive, you craved more.   
“How can I help?”

********

The man, or One as you now knew him as, had shown you around the base, which was where you had awoken close to three hours ago now. He explained that he had brought you here with the hunch that you would accept his offer, he had taken you into an abandoned aeroplane, which had been converted into a crude infirmary, it was a far cry from a hospital, but after snooping around the drawers and cupboards, you had discovered just about everything that could ever be needed for a medical emergency.   
“I can hear you thinking from here.” One smirked, turning back to look at you, as he showed you around, pointing out different trailers, planes, and empty shipping containers, all of which either housed one of his teammates, or equipment for their missions.

Your eyes go wide, staring at the man in front of you. “I don’t know what you mean…” You begin, before One cuts you off.

“You want to know why I shot out the window in the hotel.” It’s not a question, rather a statement, one which was entirely correct. You hadn’t stopped thinking about it since One had started his grand tour.  
The nod of your head is enough for One to carry on.  
“Remember what I said about being dead earlier?” Once again you nod. “You see, for us to do these missions, we have to be invisible, untraceable, we can’t exist. We’re ghosts. And the only way to become a ghost?” He trails off, allowing you to answer.

“You have to die…”

“With death comes a clean slate, no history, no records, you cannot be tracked.”

You cut One off before he can continue. “But you’re not actually dead.”

“Yes, well spotted. All of us here _faked_ our deaths, it’s the only way to take yourself off the grid entirely. No one ever goes looking for a dead man, most people think it would be impossible for the dead to do what we do.”

Your mouth opens, ready to speak once again, though the look in One’s eyes causes you to clam up instantly.  
“I shot out the window so to set up your death. If you had declined my job offer, all you would need to do would be return to the hotel, and pretend you had gotten into an argument with a boyfriend, who had thrown something against the window in a fit of rage. However, if you accepted, we required your death to be organised. The suicide note I left on the hotel bed addressed to your parents, would easily explain why you did what you did. We all know how stressful school can be… You just happened to be in a building that was exceptionally high up and had rather weak windows. You took your chance and jumped.”

You can’t take another step, your feet cemented to the ground. Out of all the deaths One could’ve come up with, he chose suicide. Your family, friends… They would be gutted.  
“You didn’t even give me the chance to say goodbye…”

“Y/N, you can go back home right now if you want. See your family, your friends, continue taking underpaid freelance gigs, robbing museums, whatever else it is you do in your free time. If that’s what you want, then fine. I don’t care, we can find someone else. But we _want_ you, we want you _here_. But this offer, it will _not_ come around again.” One warns, his long steps closing the distance between you with only four steps.

Tears sting the backs of yours eyes, threatening to spill down your cheeks, though you refuse to cry in front of One. You won’t let him see just how affected you are by this situation. You straighten your aching back, before marching ahead of him, climbing the stairs of a trailer you had not yet looked through.  
If you wanted to change the world, this was the cost, and it was a price you were willing to pay.

Looking around the trailer, it had been gutted out entirely, the walls now lined with drawers from floor to ceiling. You gaze around, trying to understand what you were looking at.  
“Everyone gets ten drawers. You can put personal belongings in there, the things that tie back to your old life. Whatever you want really. I have a contact who can get what you want from your home, just let me know what you need, and where it is, and we’ll get it to you.” One nods, gesturing to the drawers, each labelled with a number from one to seven.

You nod, shuffling your feet against the floor, trying to think of what you could possibly want here with you. “I’ll let you know.” You finally reply, before following One back outside.

******** 

completing the ‘Grand Tour’, One had shown you to a mostly empty trailer, welcoming you to your new home.  
You had spent a few hours alone after that, just trying to collect your thoughts, and wrap your head around the whirlwind that was the past twelve hours. There was a bed built into the trailer directly beneath the line of windows on the left wall, the mattress was thin, and the blankets had certainly seen better days, but as you lay down, staring up at the clear blue sky, it honestly felt like laying on a cloud.

Falling asleep had not been part of the plan, though you supposed your body needed the rest, it was trying to heal a gunshot wound after all. Though impromptu nap or no, being awoken by One as he threw a glass of water over your face, was _not_ how you wanted to be greeted back into the world of wake.   
“I’m getting really tired of waking up to your ugly face, One.” You mutter, pushing yourself up into a sitting position, before you scrub your palms down your dripping face.

A deep chuckle rolls through your sparse trailer, one that you weren’t yet familiar with. “Well, you’re alright in my books kid. Anyone who is as fed up with One after only five minutes as I was, means you’re gonna fit in just fine here!”

One turns around and directs a glare at the man leaning against the doorway, who in turn, responds with a cheesy grin. “Can I help you Seven?”   
  
The man, Seven, shrugs off from the doorway, turning to step half out of your trailer. “Everyone’s waiting for you two, they wanna meet the new recruit.”

“What do you mean everyone wants to meet her? How does _anyone_ even know that there is a new recruit?!” One cries, eyes darting from your miserable wet face, to Seven’s smirking one.

“Of course they want to meet me. I’m fucking fabulous, everyone should _want_ to meet me.” You huff, rolling yourself off the bed, a feat which takes far more effort than you would care to admit.

Seven chuckles once again, his eyes meeting yours through the dim lighting of your home. “Again, credit where credit’s due. You seem pretty fab to me.” He turns his attention back to One, shrugging his broad shoulders lightly. “Five mentioned she’d helped patch someone up earlier. Someone who you’d brought into camp. According to those who have been here longest, the only times you bring someone here who’s not dead, is when you’re trying to recruit them.”

“Does he shoot all new recruits?” You pipe up, folding your arms across your chest, lifting a brow at One.

“No, you got special treatment.” One smirks, the corners of his lips twitching in an effort to school his features. “Right then, follow me. We’ve got a meet and greet to attend apparently.”

You follow behind Seven and One, across the open expanse of desert, noting how each of the trailers now had lights on inside, lights that seemed to be far more appealing than the fluorescent bulbs that hung from your ceiling.   
The men lead you into a large shipping container, it looked to be three containers that had been merged, the doors wide open to allow the evening breeze access. Voices echoed inside the sparse room, all falling silent as the three of you make it to what appears to be a briefing room. A large square table sits at the front of the room, and pinned up on all of the walls are what you can only assume, are photo’s of targets.

Four people and a dog stand around the table, all clearly interested in your arrival, though the dog appears to be the most intrigued, the English mastiff bounding across the room up to you. You can’t fight the grin the invades your face as the large dog moves onto his hind legs, massive paws pressing against your chest as he licks your face.   
You bring your hand up to ruffle against his head, the dog barking happily at the attention you so happily supplied him with.

“No, bad Wally! Get off Eight!” One directs, locking eyes with the mastiff. Wally either doesn’t understand the command, or ignores it, as he continues to express his adoration of you through kisses.

“It’s fine! If this is how I die, then I am totally okay with this!” You giggle, you had been a Ghost for only a few hours now, and it already seemed like you had made a new best friend.

Finally, after a few minutes, Wally leaps off you in search of something else to do, leaving you now dog free, and covered in dog hair and slobber.   
“Right, so now that Wally has accepted her, I guess? this is Eight. Eight, meet everyone.” One declares to the room, four sets of eyes landing on you once again.

“We’re still using numbers then?” Asks a thickly accented man. Looking over, you find him to be tall, handsome, and frowning at One with a look of disdain.

“Yes, yes we are. Three, meet Eight. Eight, meet Three. He’s our Hitman.”

You wave shyly at Three, with him returning the gesture with far more gusto, a broad grin sweeping over his lips.   
At his side, with an arm resting over his shoulder in a casual yet possessive manner, was a thin, platinum blonde bombshell. “Hello Eight, I am Two. It is a pleasure to meet you.” The sentence flowing freely, and in a beautiful manner with her French accent.

“Two is Ex CIA.” Three declares proudly, looking down at the sighing blonde.

“You’ve already met Five.” One is gesturing to the young woman who you had woken up to earlier that day.

“Oh, um thank you for, well… You know, thanks.” Fuck, why were you so awkward? You gesture limply at your still bandaged arm, sending a small smile her way.

“No worries, next time I stitch you up hopefully you won’t be out cold. That way you get to pick what pattern I do when I put the sutures in!” Five laughs, sitting on the edge of the table.

One shakes his head, rolling his dark eyes. “Five is our Doctor, among other things. She likes to stitch our wounds up in fun ways, so they scar in designs.” He shrugs, clearly this was a normal thing in this group.

“Seven’s the one who you were bonding with back in your trailer.” One jerks his head towards the man you had followed in just before. “Ex-Military, good with a sniper.”   
Seven nods at you from where he is crouched down, giving Wally belly scratches.  
“And over here, is Four. Parkour master.”

Before you have the chance to say anything, Four cuts in, his deep British accent sending chills down your sine. “We’ve discussed this, I’m a Skywalker, thank you very much.”

You should just keep your mouth shut, you don’t know these people, making silly nerdy jokes is not the way to make a good first impression! Not to mention the fact that for some reason, you _really_ don’t want to make a fool of yourself in front of this stunningly attractive Brit. His tousled blonde locks brushing his forehead, as his emerald eyes flicker to yours the moment you speak.  
“Oh, so you’re a Jedi then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning now, after how this chapter ended, we're all in for a lot of nerdy star wars puns from now on!


	3. You're not the big fish in the pond no more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back again! This fic is starting to take on a mind of its own, which is great, except for the fact that it's making me stay awake until 4am just to write it!  
> This chapter is angsty and bit violent, so please keep that in mind when reading!  
> With that said and done, I hope you all enjoy!  
> Peace and Love <3

Despite the rigorous training regime, you’d experienced these past few weeks, that was either designed to make you get up and leave, or potentially kill you on the spot, you had stayed with the Ghosts. You were taught how to handle different weapons, a makeshift firing range being set up for you to practise at. You would be the first to admit that your aim was not always perfect, but you were getting better, there was no doubt about it.  
Basic fighting techniques were passed from the other Ghosts down to you, though as Two had warned you, it was one thing to fight a punching bag, and an entirely other to fight an armed person.

*****

_Three had woken early as usual, getting himself dressed in his athletic wear and lacing up his trainers tightly. Jogging on the spot, he waited patiently for Two just out the front of her trailer, knowing she would be joining him shortly. Despite it being a well-known fact among the small group, that the two were, as Four had said ‘involved’ with each other, that hadn’t changed his and Two’s sleeping arrangements… Well, at least not permanently. Mostly it was just to keep One happy, so they kept their separate trailers, though there was scarcely a night where one would sleep without the other. Each morning, they would return to their respective homes, and begin the day as if nothing had happened.  
This morning was no different, Two had been in Three’s trailer up until twenty minutes ago, she had kissed him good morning, then raced to her trailer to get ready. Thee found it idiotic that they had to hide their relationship, though they all knew One’s stance on the subject. He didn’t want anyone getting too close, forming friendships could only lead to heartache and tragedy. _

_“Only a quick run this morning, Eight will be here early for her combat training.” Two smiles as she leaps from the stairs of her trailer, landing carefully on both feet, before breaking off into a sprint._

_Three leaps into action, taking off after the speedy blonde. “How is that any different to usual?” He calls, trailing a small amount behind her as they cover ground._

_Two slows her sprint to jog, turning so she was now facing Three, and jogging backwards. She knew the path well, knew where to turn, and when to be mindful of any dips in the terrain. “We will be giving the punching bag a rest for the day. She will instead learn how to fight against someone who can counter and attack her back.”_

_Nodding his head once he had caught up to Three, he mulls over her words. “Do you think that you’re the best fit to challenge her? You want it to be difficult, don’t you?”_

_Two pauses, a hard glare forming over her eyes and brow. “Of course I want the challenge to be difficult! Which is why I am the perfect sparring partner for Eight, I have years of hand to hand combat under my belt.”_

_“I’m not questioning your skills, but you two are well matched in height, that’s not always the case though is it. When was the last time you got into a punch up with someone your height or shorter?”_

_“Well then, who did you have in mind if not me?”_

_Three waves his hand down his chest, a broad grin spreading over his mouth. “Me of course! I’m taller, and bigger than Eight, it’ll be good to see how she goes against someone double her size!”_

_Two rolls her eyes, turning on the spot, and picking up her pace once more, before turning to call over her shoulder. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into!”_

*****

Which is why it came as no surprise to find Three waiting for you the morning of your next training session, Two stood to the side of the training grounds that had been set up. A circle had been drawn in the dirt, with a line trailing straight down the centre.  
You stretch your arms behind you, feeling your shoulder blades pop, before the tension you had held there alleviates. Three was stretching in a similar manner to you, sweat beading on his brow for his morning jog with Two.   
“Good morning Eight. I hate to throw you into the deep end this early, but we need to get you up to speed with combat. Three has offered to be your sparring partner.” Two offers a gentle head nod, the closest she had gotten to smiling at you since the day you arrived.

A flicker of mirth flashes through Three’s eyes, as he lifts his head to look at Two, their eyes locking for a moment in silent communication. As you stretch, you take the chance to look around, despite how early in the morning it was, everyone seemed to be milling around, waiting for the show to start. Seven had set up a green and yellow woven lawn chair out the front of his trailer, a beach umbrella opened above him to shield from the harsh sunrays, as a steaming cup of coffee rests by his feet. Five seemed to have dragged her own chair over to join him, an old plastic thing, which at one sage had been white. Though after months of being exposed to the elements, it had faded to a pale brownish yellow colour, with pieces flaking off. She too had hot cup of coffee and was sipping it patiently, and set by her feet was a small medical kit, a green circle with white plus slapped on the front of the box. It was just there as a precaution, you told yourself, turning away from the kit. Five likely took it wherever she went, just in case…

Directly across from Two was One, he was leaning back against a shipping container which was close enough to see the fight, but not close enough to be hit in the crossfire. His arms were folded over his plaid shirt, while one foot was kicked over the other, he looked the picture of relaxed. As you fished out your Bluetooth earbuds, you took a moment to notice the one person who hadn’t shown up. Four was no where to be found, not that this surprised you. He seemed to have been avoiding you at all costs, he had outright refused to show you any fighting techniques when One had requested he do so, and you had a hunch as to why.   
One had made it no secret as to what your skills would be within the team. While Five, Two, Seven and Three had welcomed you with open arms, finding what you could do with just a few mouse clicks to be phenomenal, Four had simply shrugged, mumbling under his breath that, “It didn’t look _that_ hard.” When you had brought up a window on the screen you were working at, typing in a few codes, before the entire base was plunged into darkness, all except your computer. After that little demonstration, he had stalked off and promptly steered clear of you for the following weeks.

With your earbuds clutched in your fist, you made your way over to Two and Three, both of whom were waiting for you. “First rule, this is mostly directed at Three, though Eight please keep it in mind. There are to be no weapons of any kind used during your sparring. You will both start on opposite sides of the circle, the aim is to get the other onto your side and have them removed from the circle. If that does not happen, then the only other way for the session to be over, will be for one of you to tap out.” Two explains, her eyes focused on you, though occasionally she gazes to Three, ensuring that he too was listening.

You both nod your heads in understanding, before you slip an earbud in, pressing the tiny button to connect them to your phone.  
“Oi Eight! What are you doing?” One calls across to you raising an eyebrow at your frozen posture.

You stood with one hand halfway to your ear, the second earbud pressed between your fingertips. “I work better with music!” You shout back.

A low chuckle rumbled from Three behind you, though you paid him no mind as he whispered to Two. “Sound like anyone else we know?” He smirked, noting the absence of their fellow avid music listener, who could often be found with his own music blaring in his ears.

“You won’t always have time to put earbuds in Eight, you’ll have to learn to fight without music!” One replies, causing you to frown. Why should you learn to do that? There was absolutely no reason as to why you would be on a mission without your music and earbuds.

“One, you know I work well with music. You saw how quickly I got those cameras down at the museum with my music playing. It’s basically the exact opposite of a distraction to me!”

You watch as One opens his mouth, ready to shout his response, before being cut off by and angry French woman. “Suffisant!” Two bellowed, both you and One turning to look at her sheepishly.  
“If Eight wishes to use her music while fighting, then that is her choice.”  
Two doesn’t wait for a response from One, nodding at you to finish setting up. You take your place on one side of the line in the circle, as Three does the same on the opposite side. With one hand raised to your left earbud, the other balled in a fist and raised to just bellow your eyeline , your feet are planted firmly on the ground, legs parted and knees bent, so to absorb as much shock as possible in the event of you being struck. “Commencer!”

Your index finger presses against the button, before your hand flies down to join your other in a defensive block, Your eyes locked on Three’s in a never ending staring contest. The music kicks in, Ain’t it fun by Paramore floating through the earbuds, and filling you with a newfound sense of confidence.

You strike first, a right-handed forward punch aimed at Three’s throat, the punch itself was clean and smooth, and if it had hit its target, would have left Three feeling rather sorry for himself. Your punch never landed however, being blocked by Three’s fast-moving forearm, which knocked your fist off target. He followed through with a right hook, which connected with your shoulder painfully. You twisted your body to follow through with his punch, to absorb as much of the shock as possible.

As you swing around with his punch, you lift both your arms up, locking your fists together, throwing them down hard and fast so your elbow juts into his side. Your aim was off, you had hoped to hit his chest, though with the force your elbows had hit him, they seemed to have caused a decent amount of damage. Using the pause in Three’s movements to your advantage, you bring your locked fists up once again, turning to the opposite side before swinging around once more, this time you elbow connects with his upper torso, slamming into one of his ribs without mercy.   
Had it not been for your music, then you would have heard the faint crack of the impacted rib, though while you missed the sound, Three sure as hell didn’t.

  
He stumbles away for a moment, pressing his palm against where you had struck him, his eyes growing dark at the pain that was radiating from the impact point. You had no way of stopping what happened next, it didn’t matter how desperately your braced your knees, fists once again guarding your face, there was no way you could do anything but shriek as Three rugby tackled you, his broad shoulder crashing into your gut with so much force, you thought you would to die. He pushed you backwards, as your feet scrambled to gain purchase on the ground to try and stop your movements. ‘Ain’t it fun, living in the real world?’ Hailey Williams’ voice breezed through your ears, as the wind was knocked from your lungs, the irony of the situation certainly not lost on you. 

As Three pushed you backwards, you fought to decide what your next move would be, you had to hurry though, there was only so much of this searing pain you could endure, before you opted for the cowards way out, and tapped out of the match. Before you had the chance to formulate a plan, Three had shunted into you with his shoulder again, this time using his entire body weight. You had no where to go but down, the white hot pain of where Three had rammed you was beginning to take over your entire body, your vision was fuzzy, and your limbs tingled. You flung your arms out to your sides just as your back slammed to the ground, your palms slapping against dirt to alleviate some of the impact.

*****

One watched with keen eyes as the fight took an interesting turn of events, you had had the upper hand for the most part, though clearly you had struck a nerve with Three, or a rib. As Three barrelled into you, he fought back the desire to call the fight off. It was hardly a fair pairing, Three was massive, and was made of pure muscle! You hardly stood a chance against the man.   
Just as he was about to call for a time out, a low chuckle came from above him. Pushing away from his lean against the shipping container, he looked to his left, up at the trailer beside him.  
“Jesus fuck! How long have you been there?”

Four smirked lopsidedly down at One, his blue eyes meeting the surprised ones of their leader. “Well, I saw when you picked your nose. So sometime before then I guess...”

One planted his hands firmly on his hips, raising both brows up at the blonde Brit. If he weren’t so fucking good at skywalking, then he would’ve happily left him in a foreign country somewhere, for him to find his way out, and hopefully to not return to the team. “What’s so funny then huh?”

“Eight, she’s getting absolutely smashed out there. I told you we didn’t need a fucking hacker, we need someone who can bloody fight.”

*****

As your vision cleared, you found Three looming over you, not with the intention of helping you up though, no, you were outside the circle that’s for sure, but you were still on your side. He was ready to carry you over the line to claim his victory. You couldn’t let him win, you had to prove yourself to the team, prove that you belonged here just as much as them.  
With a new found strength, you sweep your legs to the left, smashing into Three’s right calf. He had been stood over your collapsed body, though he hadn’t made it further than your knees, which was perfect for you.  
Groaning, Three landed heavily on his knee, as you rolled away from him, crawling onto your hands and knees, before making it back to your feet.   
He was on your side of the circle, and better still, he was outside of the circle. All you had to do was hit him while he was down.

  
When the Ghosts had asked if you had any previous combat training, you had said no, which was the truth, really. The type of fighting skills they were looking for were those of a boxer, wrestler, or soldier, which you were none of. You had however, spent two years learning karate when you were a young teenager, it had been your mother who insisted you learn some form of self-defence, she wanted you to be able to protect yourself if you were ever in danger.  
You hadn’t practised in years, so you thought it better to not mention anything, lest you give them hope in your abilities.   
Now though, you had no other choice. From what you could recall, none of the moves the Ghosts had shown you during your training sessions would be of any use to you now.   
  


You pivot on the spot to face Three, who was slowly raising from the ground, his knee obviously bruised from his heavy landing. With your feet planted firmly, and your hands once again raised to block, you meet his gaze.   
“Sorry Three.” You smirk. With a practiced speed and precision, you lift your right leg from behind you, bending your left knee to keep you balanced. Your leg swings around the side, your knee remaining bent slightly, so you could retract quickly if necessary. This would not be the case however, as once your right leg finishes it’s arch, your lower shin connects with Three’s jaw, sending him crashing to the ground with a grunt.

“Eight est victorieux!” Two shouts, as both she and Five race towards you and Three, ready to congratulate and bandage you both.

*****

“Now that? That you can laugh at!” One grins, a look of wonder etched on his face, where you’d learnt a perfect roundhouse kick like that, he had no clue. But fuck, you executed it perfectly!   
“Still think Eight can’t handle herself in a fight then kid?” One grins, turning to the trailer where Four had been stood atop only minutes ago. The roof was empty now though, with no signs of the man having ever been there.

A low whistle comes from above, and One tilts his head back to find Four crouched on the roof of the shipping container he was leaning against. He was crouched down low, one forearm resting against his knee, while his other hand sat between his feet, gripping the edge of the shipping container to prevent him from falling. “Alright, so I didn’t see that coming. Don’t think anyone did…. Where’d she learn a move like that?”

One paid no mind to Four’s words, blinking rapidly up at his teammate. “When the hell did you get there? I didn’t hear you move!” Four tilts his head to look down at One, closing his eyes tightly, unable to bring himself to answer.   
“And what the fuck is with the way you’re sitting? What are you? A cat?”

With a deadpan expression, Four opens his eyes, locking them with One’s, both men ignoring the five people all gathered just a small ways ahead of them, congratulating Eight on her victory, and helping to patch up Three.  
“Meow.”

*****

“You little shit! You didn’t tell us you could fight like that!” Two grins, as she and Five help you over to your trailer. A stitch had formed in your stomach, and you still found it difficult to breathe from where Three had rammed you, but a grin remained plastered to your lips. You’d done it, you had beat Three!

You collapse against your bed, groaning deeply as you sink into the mattress, if you had it your way, you would stay there for the rest of your life. “I haven’t practised in forever. I didn’t think I would remember anything.” Your shoulders jerk in a weak shrug, but the ladies get the gist.

“You did amazing today.” Five smiles, handing you an icepack, which you promptly pressed against your stomach. “Get some rest, when you’re up and ready for the day, come find me, we have a surprise for you”

Peeling your eyes open you squint at Five, trying to asses if her smile was genuine or not. “Is it more fighting? If it is, then I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to make it. I’ll be dead.”

“You’re already are dead.” Two pipes up, from where she had made herself comfortable on the dresser in your trailer.

Five rolls her eyes, shaking her head down at you. “No, it’s nothing like that. There’s a few shops not too far from here, it’s where we buy the essentials. There also happens to be a shop that sells furniture and such.”

Slowly, you close your eyes again, feeling sleep wrap its tendrils around your mind and body. “Oh how nice, a shopping spree….”

Five and Two share a smile as you drift to sleep, both women silently making their way out of your trailer. It was a depressing place to call home, but rules were rules. Until today, you were still considered to be in orientation, though now, you’d graduated. Which meant, you could finally decorate your trailer, and make it feel more like an actual home, and not like you were hiding from the law, as you were.

*****

You have no way of knowing how long you had slept for, though as you opened your eyes and looked out the window, you saw the sun now higher in the sky, so at least you hadn’t slept through the entire day.  
Flinching as you get up, you grab your cosmetics bag filled with your toiletries from one of the drawers in your trailer. Clothes and shoes are clumsily draped over your arms, as you make you slow shuffling way to the bathrooms.   
The facilities were as basic as they could get and reminded you of the communal bathrooms at camp sites you had visited with your family while growing up. There was one building for the men, and another for the women of the team, you had Five to thank for that. Apparently when she had first joined there was one unisex bathroom, she had gotten into a screaming match with One over this, and ultimately won. Thus, the now separate bathrooms.

Inside were four toilet stalls, two sinks, and a large tiled area with four shower heads, a plastic curtain pinned to the ceiling to block off the shower from the rest of the bathroom. A large mirror hung above the sinks, and beside it were multiple wooden shelves. Shrugging out of your clothes, you placed them onto one of the shelves, using a sperate one for your clean clothes. With soap, and hair products in hand, you step into the shower, the cold water taking far too long to heat up. Though you supposed you should be thankful that there _was_ hot water, there had been plenty of times you had been camping, only to find no hot water in the showers.

*****

After scrubbing yourself clean and redressing, you return to your trailer with the intentions of putting away your old clothes. On your way through the base, you hear two people arguing, the first voice was the all too familiar voice of One, while the other was less familiar but all too recognisable, Four’s deep British accent spitting words of venom at One.  
“I don’t give a _fuck_ if she can fight! We don’t need a fucking hacker; we need a god damned _driver_!”

You falter in your steps, turning to look in the direction of the argument, finding the two men facing off from an abandoned plane. One stood in the plane’s exit door, a ladder propped against the side for easy access, while Four stood bellow him, hands balled into fists as he stared up at the older man.

“You do _not_ decide who we do or don’t need on our missions Four.”

“She’s a fucking liability! Sure, she got lucky with Three today, but that won’t always be the case!”

“Eight’s role in the team isn’t combat! She’ll be doing things from a distance!”

Four laughs, a dry bitter sound that causes you to flinch. “Right, I get it. We put _our_ necks on the line, but _she_ gets to sit back in her comfy chair with a computer.”

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, isn’t it?”

“Of course it isn’t! She’ll be working from afar most of the time, but that doesn’t mean she’ll be under any less threat than us!”

“How do you figure that?”

“Missions change! What if _you’re_ stuck in alley somewhere, _no_ chance of escape and the closest person to your location is Eight. Wouldn’t you rather she have _some_ combat training to help you? Or would you rather she just _leave_ you there?”

“Well that all sounds _great_ , but who gives a _fuck_ if she can help us if we have no getaway vehicle?!”

“We don’t need one specific person dedicated to being the getaway driver!”

“That’s not what you said when you brought in Six! You told him he was the best Auto Racer you had ever seen, and that without him we wouldn’t stand a chance at escaping your fucking missions!”

“Six was a _phenomena_ l racer, but look where that fucking got him! We don’t need a repeat performance!”

“Don’t you fucking _dare_ talk about Six that way. He’s dead because of you and that clusterfuck of a first mission!”

“I won’t have you question me again Four, if you don’t like how things are around here, then you can fuck off back to England. You all do what I tell you to, and if I say we’ll be sharing the driving on missions, then we’re _sharing_ the _fucking driving._ ”

“You’re putting her on a god damned pedestal, all she can do is log into a bloody computer, and knock Three onto his fat arse. What makes you think she could drive a getaway car if you asked her to?”

You don’t stick around to hear the rest of the argument, anger rising up in your chest as you march off towards your trailer. You would show him, Four could doubt your abilities as much as he wanted, but you would prove him wrong.

From his high vantage point on the plane, One watches you storm off across the base from nearby. Had you heard all of that?   
Four follows One’s gaze, eyes landing on you as you make your way through the grounds, running a hand through your messy hair. Fuck, if he’d known you’d been there, he would’ve kept his mouth shut…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Chapter Three!  
> I look forward to seeing you all in Chapter Four, where things will be a bit more light hearted, and perhaps Four and Eight actually start talking?????


	4. I'm having fun, don't put me down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome to Chapter Four!  
> I had planned on having this posted sooner, but Chapter Five took me a bit longer to write than I initially thought it would. And I want to try and have the next chapters at least partially written before I post the new chapter (If that makes sense at all?)
> 
> Anyways, this chapter is a little bit more lighthearted that the previous one was. There's still a slight bit of angst, but nothing too major. There is some character development though! And Four is kinda redeemed for being an ass in the last chapter!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this, and let me know what you think ❤

The trailer door slammed shut behind you, as you stalked towards Five’s trailer, your wet hair being blown in all directions by the sudden gale which had picked up at base. You were mad, you were beyond mad, you were at the point of furious! “Who the fuck does Four think he is? He doesn’t have a fucking clue what I can do!” You snarl under your breath, not that it made any difference. You could’ve screamed the words from the top of your lungs, and you doubted anyone would hear you over the wind.  
As you rounded a corner, Five’s trailer came into view, her and Two sat on the steps leading inside, both looking up at you when your shadow cast across them. Your eyes were hidden behind a pair of heart shaped sunglasses, the cheerful eyewear masking the look of rage piercing your eyes. Plastering on a smile, you leant against the side of Five’s trailer, resting your clasped hands behind your back. “Sorry I took so long, sleep kinda happened.” You smirk.

Five waves you off, smiling softly. “No stress, if I were still a medical practitioner, I’d be yelling at you right now to go back to bed, and finish healing.”

“You do that anyway. Medical licence or no…” Two grins, earning a shove in the shoulder from Five.

“That’s beside the point! None of you actually have to listen to me when I tell you do something! When I wore a name badge and stethoscope, people would do exactly as I said!”

“Thanks Five, but really, I’m alright. I don’t need any more sleep. I feel fine.” You grin, feeling your anger slowly ebb away.  
Five eyes you from head to toe, as if she were expecting a mortal wound to appear somewhere on your person. “Seriously Five, it’s okay. I’m no more injured than I usually am after attacking the punching bag!”

At this, Five cracks a grin, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “Two, you’ve turned her into you! Next thing we know, Eight’ll be running around with a gunshot wound in her back, telling us all that she’s fine!”

“How is that possibly a bad thing?” Two gasps, looking between Five and you, a tiny smirk working its way onto her lips. “We need more people like me in the world, and I’m honoured that Eight is just that!”

“Besides, eight is divisible by two! So of course we’re going to end up like each other!” You laugh, kicking one foot up behind you, planting it firmly on the side of the trailer.

“By that logic then, eight is also divisible by four, would that make you and Four similar too?” Five grins. Your breath hitches in your throat, the last thing you want it to think about that arrogant Brit. No, you were nothing alike. You would never question someone’s place on a team before they’d had the opportunity to prove themselves.

“Definitely not. He and I are two _very_ different people.” You answer almost too quickly, both Five and Two noticing your sudden shift in posture. Your back had gone pin straight, and your hands had moved to rest in front of you, fingers locking then unlocking over and over.

Two stands up, stepping over Five who was on the step below her. “Well, I don’t know about you, Eight. But I know that after a good fight, I always like to get a big meal. There’s a diner in town that serves pretty decent food. Ready to head on in?”

Pushing away from the trailer, you nod twice, smiling gently at Two. “That’s sounds great.”

“I’ll get the keys from One, I’ll meet you both at the car.” Five offers, closing her trailer door, and heading towards a shipping container. You were still learning where everything at base was, but if you remembered correctly, the one Five entered was the communal rec room. It was often where One and Seven could be found, battling it out in a game of pool.

*****

The silver McLaren 570S sped down the highway, going well over the speed limit, though considering that you had only passed three other cars the whole time, it didn’t much matter how fast you went. Two had offered to drive, as she claimed to know a short cut to the small town you were visiting, and as it was your first time leaving the base in weeks, Five had offered you sit in the passenger seat to take in the scenery, which you would’ve done had it not been blurring past you at a rate of knots.  
Eventually, the car slowed down as you entered a small populated town, driving through the quiet street at an acceptable speed.  
“Where are we stopping first? Shopping or lunch?” Two asks, turning to face Five in the backseat.

Five gazes out the window for a moment, contemplating her answer. “Lunch makes the most sense, it’s the right time for it…”

“I was thinking shopping first. If we eat later in the day, then we’ll have an actual excuse to not have to eat whatever Three makes for dinner tonight.” You offer, tilting your head to the side as you wait for a response.

Two chuckles, nodding her head. “I may like Three, but his cooking is atrocious.”

“Shops first, it is then!” Five grins, as Two drives further down the street, until she pulls into a parking space. The three of you climbing out, before instantly being hit with a sticky, humid breeze, making you all wish you had remained in the air-conditioned car.

The two women lead you down the street, as you look at each of the shops you pass. A few small clothing stores, a grocer, chemist, realtor, arcade, cinema, three diners, one Italian restaurant, and finally you come to a home décor store. “They don’t have much, but it’s enough to make things a little more comfortable.” Five offers with a smile as she pushes the door open for you all.

Inside, the store was set up in multiple different sections. One for bathroom, another for children’s rooms, kitchens, lounge rooms, and of course master bedrooms. Moving further into the store, you leave Two and Five to look through the lounge section, as you make a beeline for the bedroom portion of the store.  
The store offered just about everything you could possibly need for a bedroom, though as you weren’t in the market for a new bed, or furniture at all for that matter, you were left with only a small portion of the display area to look through. There was a tall floor lamb which you select, along with a matching smaller lamp that you intended to use by your bed. Next came bed sheets, the ones you had been using since you arrived were clearly hand me downs, not that there was an issue with that, but you did want to new ones. Finding a few sets that you liked, and also hoped would fit your mattress, you move on to the more decorative side of things. A string of twinkling fairy lights was added to your basket, along with a cream coloured rectangular rug. As you looked further around, you came across decorative throw cushions, which you quickly snatched up five of, all in different colours and patterns, only to then find a throw blanket which matched one of the five, which you found yourself _needing!_

Making your way back to the front of the store, you found your travel companions causing a ruckus in the kids room section, where they were attempting to build a fort with the few items available to do so. The store clerk looked as if he was having an aneurism, though he was unable to say anything that would make the women stop.  
“If only One could see you both now.” You giggle, heading over with your arms and basket full of décor.

Two pokes her head up from behind their fort, smirking at you. “Why do you say that?”

“When he was telling me about all of you after we first met, he told me I had to behave well around you two, because you were the adults of the team.”

Five bursts into laughter, as Two joins in with her own giggles. “Fuck One, he sees what he wants to see when it comes to us! He wouldn’t notice if we walked around with fake moustaches drawn on!” Five gasps, shaking her head fondly.

“One time, during a briefing, Seven didn’t show up, but instead stuffed a jacket with paper, and blew up a balloon and put it under the jackets hood. He set it up perfectly, it actually looked like someone was asleep on the table! Unless you got too close, then it was obvious what was going on. One got through the whole meeting, and only when everyone stood to leave, and the fake Seven didn’t, did he notice something was wrong!” Two has a fond look in her eyes as she tells you her story. “If he thinks we’re the adults, then that’s fine, but we know the truth!”

A part of you longs to stay with the women, and help them build their fort, but the other part of you feels the urge to rescue the poor store clerk. Turning to face him, you smile kindly. “Hi there, could I grab these all please?”

The young boy blinks in shock, tearing his gaze away from the two grown women destroying the store. “Uh- sure! Just follow me.”

You do as he says and follow him to the register, he looks no older that fifteen or sixteen perhaps, and clearly has had no experience with dealing with a situation like this. As the youth reads out your total, you smile and pull out the credit card from your purse. Two had handed it to you before you left, saying that is was One’s card, and was only to be used for the essentials. When you had asked if shopping for your tailer counted as an essential, she had looked directly in your eyes and said, that home decorating was the only essential.  
“Can you add an extra 70 bucks to the total please?”

The boy blinks at you in surprise, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “Why’d you wanna do that?”

You shrug lightly, twirling the card between your fingers. “Because I feel bad for the mess my friends have made. Figure this might make up for it a bit.”

He doesn’t question you again and does as told, presenting you with your new total, to which you happily pay. By the time the small items had been bagged up, you were left with two lamps in large boxes, and a rolled-up rug to try and figure out how to carry out to the car.  
“Oi ladies! Leave the poor shop alone and come gimme a hand here!” You yell across the store, hearing the giggling from the two women cease.

*****

Loading your purchases into the car had been one hell of a hassle, while the McLaren was built for speed, it was certainly not built with the intention of ever using the trunk! After much swearing, and the threat of returning the rug, the three of you had managed to get everything safely inside, slamming the trunk closed, with the vow to not open it again until you were back at base.  
Next, came a very late lunch. It was well after three when you entered the diner, only a handful of other patrons there at the odd time of your arrival. A middle aged woman with flaming red hair directed the three of you to a booth at the back of the diner, handing out plastic menu’s. You all placed your orders, heeding Five’s warning and staying well away from the nachos. “Four had them once, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so unwell…” She had advised, to which although the thought of Four being sick did spark joy in you, you would rather not find out if it was a one-off thing or not.

Once your meals were handed out, conversation flowed freely between the three of you, no question was off limits now that you were away from the base and One’s prying eyes.  
“Alright Eight, I’ve been trying to figure it out all afternoon, but I just can’t. So you’re going have to answer it for me. What’s the go with Four? When we mentioned him back at base, I genuinely thought you were about to cry, or scream. Maybe even both…” Five begins, dabbing the corner of mouth with a napkin.

You pray that the ground will open up and swallow you whole, at least then you’d have an excuse for not answering. Of course, they had noticed your reaction earlier, you’d never been good at hiding your emotions, your dad used to warn you to never play poker! Both as an anti-gambling campaign, but also because he knew that if you did, everyone would know straight away if you were bluffing or not. You look across at Two, who although has her mouthful, looks just as curios as Five does.  
Sighing deeply, you rest your elbows on the table, hissing quietly as you press against a bruise you didn’t know you had. “I’m just tired of the way he’s been treating me is all.”

“Wow, that was so informative. I feel so enlightened! Thank you so much for sharing such a heart wrenching story with us, I know that must’ve been hard for you.” Two grumbles, glaring at you over her meal. You had hoped that maybe they would accept such a basic offer, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“It’s just that he’s been ignoring me since I arrived! Every time I try to talk to him, he just pretends he can’t hear me, and then there’s the times when I’m talking to someone else! He walks right up to us, and just starts talking over the top of me, no apology or anything!”

Five clears her throat, looking at you softly. “I don’t think he means anything by it Eight. He was like that with all of us when we first met him, he just seems to take a while to warm up to new people is all.”

At that, you can’t help but laugh, causing the two women to look at you in surprise. Out of all the reactions you could’ve had to Five’s comment that was not one they had expected. “Is there more that you’re not telling us?” Two presses on, placing her fork down and giving you her full attention now.

Your fingers comb through your hair, pushing the sweaty strands away from your scalp. “I uh- overheard him talking, or rather shouting with One today.”

“Bloody hell, those two fight like cats and dogs sometimes, you’ll get used to it eventually.” Two shrugs, leaning back to press herself against the booth’s chair more comfortably

You shake your head, breathing out deeply. “No, it’s not that. Christ I couldn’t give a flying fuck whether they scream at each other all the time or not, what I do care about though, is the way he talks about me when I’m not around.” You take a sip of your ice water, the cool glass rather soothing against your palm.  
“He was questioning One as to why I’m here. He thinks that what I do is pointless, and that I shouldn’t be a part of the team. Apparently, you don’t need a hacker, and that having me around is a liability. Then he accused the fight today of being a fluke, basically saying the Three was an easy take down for me! Oh, and then there was this whole thing about you needing a driver instead of me, and when One said that the team would continue taking it in turns of being the getaway driver, he basically said that I wouldn’t be able to drive a getaway vehicle even if I wanted to!” By the time you finish you feel fresh tears clawing at the backs of your eyes. You squeeze your lids shut, until you feel the need to sob subside.

With your eyes shut, you don’t see the looks exchanged between Two and Five, who were conducting a silent conversation, with you none the wiser.  
“Eight, I’m not trying to excuse Four’s behaviour, or his comments. But there’s something you should know.” Five sighs, resting a comforting hand over your shoulder, smiling gently when you look at her beside you.  
“Four, well he’s been part of the team for a while, he joined well before I did, so he’s come to know a fair few people in his time with the Ghosts. By now, you’ve probably realised that there’s a number missing in our team, Six. He was with us for our first mission in Florence, but things didn’t end well, and he didn’t make it. Four and Six, they were practically joined at the hip, despite what One always told us, warning us to never get too close to each other, they did anyways. They were best friends! Six was our driver, and when he was with us, you could always find the two of them dicking around, going for joy rides, just being overall stupid young boys, but at least they were having fun. When Six died, it hit Four like a ton of bricks, for weeks he kept to himself, he disappeared for nearly two weeks, none of us had any idea where he went, we still don’t. But then, he suddenly returned, and begun acting as if nothing had changed. Even though, in his world, _everything_ had.”

A crease forms between your brows as you watch Five, tears are brimming in her eyes, but just like you, she’s too stubborn to let them fall.  
“Since then, Four’s been, different. He puts on a brave face, but we all know that there’s something eating him from the inside out. But he refuses to talk about it, and we can’t force him to. One uses it to his advantage, reminding us that this is why we don’t form attachments, but we don’t listen to him. Forming attachments keeps us human, even if it hurts sometimes.”

You blink slowly, taking in Five’s words, a deep pang of sympathy pounding in your chest. All of what you had just been told, it made sense to why Four was so quick to defend Six when he was arguing with One earlier.  
“I get that he’s been hurt, and that maybe he doesn’t know how to deal with the loss of Six. But why is he taking it out on me?”

This time, it’s Two who answers you, drumming her long fingers on the table. “He’s doing exactly what One has been telling us to do for years, not making attachments. He would rather have you hate him, than to get close to you, and have something happen. He can’t do the same with the rest of us, he’s known us too long now. But you? You’re new, he doesn’t know anything about you, and if he can keep it that way, then neither of you will be hurt if another mission ends badly.”

“But that doesn’t explain why he was talking about me like that to One! If he was saying it directly to me, then sure, I’d understand because yeah, I really am close to hating him after those comments. But when he was talking to One, he didn’t know I was there!”

“You didn’t have to be there. Gossip travels quickly when there’s only seven of us around, secrets don’t stay secret for long. One way or another we all find everything out. Four knows this as well as the rest of us do. Anything that he says to One about you, will eventually get around base until it reaches you. This time, the process just skipped a step, and went straight to you, before the rest of us found out.” Two offers with a tired shrug.

You pick at the remainder of your meal, mulling over this new information, unsure of how to process all of it at once. The table grows quiet, the three of you all lost in your own thoughts. “So Four doesn’t hate me really…. And, he doesn’t think that I have no place in the team?”

“I can’t guarantee anything, but I’d bet you fifty bucks that that’s exactly right. He doesn’t know you; he can’t hate you.” Five laughs, and you feel some tension leave your shoulders, finally feeling somewhat relaxed for the first time in weeks.

Biting down on your bottom lip, you gaze across at Two, then at Five, both of whom raise their eyebrows, they could see the cogs in your mind turning, but they had no idea what plan you were formulating. “I may not be able to do much to change this situation. But the least I can do is prove him wrong.”

“What’ve you got in mind Eight?” Two smirks, sitting up straight and pushing her plate to the side of the table.

*****

If you thought the McLaren was travelling fast on your way into town, then the drive out meant you were practically flying! The leather steering wheel was soft against your hands as you swerved in between cars, paying little to no mind as to which lane of the freeway you were legally supposed to be driving on.  
“Jesus Christ Eight! Would you mind not killing us please?” Two gasped, as you narrowly avoided a head on collision with a semi as you overtook a Winnebago, despite her vocal protests at your erratic driving, the sparkle in her eyes proved that she was enjoying the ride just as much as you were.

Five however was not having a grand time, and looked to be on the verge of carsick. “Eight, there are breakable things in the back of this car! Please slow down! Think of the lamps!”

You look at Five through the rear-view mirror, raising your eyebrows behind you heart glasses. “Why have the speedometer go this high if you can’t drive that fast?” You challenge, pressing down on the accelerator further, the engine revving in a delicious purr.

Whereas on the way into town, even with Two speeding as she was, the trip had still taken forty-five minutes. This time around, you were easily halfway back to base, and had only been driving for fifteen minutes. “Fucking hell Eight, we’re supposed to be dead! What happens if the police pull you over? How do you explain that three dead women are currently driving at a highly illegal speed down a freeway?” Five tries again, though it only causes you to laugh, even Two was finding the whole ordeal rather humorous.

Watching Five in the mirror, you see her open her mouth, ready to ask you to slow down again. Before she has the chance, you flick the radio on, the opening psychedelic tune of Devin Townsend’s True North urging you to speed along further. The music soaks into your entire being, and as you drive, singing along, you find yourself not caring what anyone thought of you in this very moment. You were truly living your best life, and there were genuinely no consequences for doing so.

*****

Four had once again cornered One, or so he thought. Four was under the impression, that if he yelled loud enough, that One would listen to what he had to say and would kick you out of the team. For three weeks now, he’d been trying to think of different ways to prove that you weren’t a good fit with the rest of the Ghosts, but nothing he said seemed to deter One’s line of thought. None of them had a bloody clue what the next mission was, but according to One, you would be necessary. Four failed to see how, there was nothing you could do, that the others couldn’t. Sure, they would need a bit of training to get there, and to be able to get things done as quickly as you did, but he was positive that he could hack into a museum’s security cameras just as quickly as you supposedly had!

“I’m not having this discussion with you again Four.” One groaned, rubbing at his forehead with his thumb and index finger.

“But you’re not bloody listening! What if she double crosses us? Instead of breaking into a computer to steal the information we need, what if she sends it to someone else? Or gives away our location and plans?”

“Why? _Why_ would she do that? Who would she send them to? According to all official documents, _she’s dead_. Just like the rest of us. There’s literally no one out there who would make a deal with a dead person, just on the off chance they actually delivered on their promises!”

Four frowned deeply, his brows furrowed and scar pulsing in his frustration. Why was this so difficult? Why couldn’t One just listen to him for once? All he wanted, truly, was for you to be safe, and to return to your old life! As glamourous as One had likely talked up the life of a Ghost, it truly wasn’t all it was cracked up to be! No one else should be subjected to this life, there was too much pain and death involved with this way of living, and you had no reason to experience it.

From behind the two men, a cloud of dust could be seen rapidly approaching, red clouds of dirt billowing around until they parted in lieu of the speeding McLaren. One moment it was miles away from the men, and the next, he could feel the heat radiating from the car as it breezed past him, before performing a donut, and coming to halt with the bonnet facing him. The tyre marks in the dirt showed just how perfect a stop the car had come to, there was no fishtailing, just clean tracks.  
Five was the first to emerge from the car, pressing a hand to cover her eyes, while the other rest atop the car door. Two pulled herself out next, grinning between him and One, before turning and popping the trunk. Finally, out you came, from the driver’s side no less, a cocky grin plastered to your lips as you waved at One, raising an arched eyebrow up at Four.

“Jesus Eight, I said you could drive home! Not warp us here!” Five groaned, as she helped you and Two collect things from the trunk of the car.

“Right, so who the fuck taught you to drive like that then?” One yelled out, earning a grin from you in his direction.

“When you run perpetually late like I do, and go to school on the opposite side of the city, you learn how to navigate traffic pretty damned quickly.” You quip back, slamming the trunk closed, and pocketing the keys. You, Two and Five all making your way towards your trailer.

“Don’t. Don’t fucking say it One.” Four warns, holding up a hand to the grinning man before him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about? I wasn’t going to say anything. Especially not anything about how impressive Eight’s driving skills are.” One shrugs, eyebrows raised in a look of utter innocence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, things will start to change as of the next chapter, we'll learn about who the Ghosts latest target is, and things between Four and Eight will change BIG time!


	5. I need a Doctor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there!  
> Welcome to chapter five, this baby is looong, we're talking 7k+, so be prepared!  
> There is a lot of angst in this chapter, but on the sunnier side, Four does redeem himself, so yay!
> 
> Fingers crossed you all enjoy this, and I would love to her your comments,  
> Peace and love my dudes ❤

“I am the fairy king! Bow to me or you shall die!”  
You stare up at the shouting blonde stood atop One’s trailer, the fairy lights you had purchased weeks earlier were now coiled around his body, now no longer producing the beautiful glow they once had. Up until a few minutes ago, the lights had been plugged in and twinkling away merrily, that was until Four had somehow gotten himself tangled up in them. He then decided that the shining bulbs suited his alter ego of ‘Fairy King’ quite nicely and had proceeded to race around base with them on, only pausing for a few moments when he realised, they no longer lit up.

The rest of the team were either asleep, or trying to sleep, you knew for a fact that One was in the latter category, as he had screamed at the top of his lungs “Stop fucking tap dancing on my roof!” The moment Four had begun parading around on the trailer.

You want to tell him to stop, but considering you were the reason he was so highly intoxicated right now, and that you were only one or two drinks away from being on his level of drunk, you find that it really isn’t your place to tell him off.  
“Oh, powerful fairy king!” You call out, lowering your torso in a sloppy bow, keeping your head tilted up so you can watch Four closely.  
He was teetering on falling over, which if it weren’t for how close he currently was to the edge of the trailer, then you wouldn’t think anything of it.  
“Your majesty, perhaps we should move this conversation to more sturdy ground?”

Four wobbles on unsteady legs, his face growing pale as he backs away from the edge of the trailer. For someone who spent most of his time jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper, it was rather comical to see him afraid of what would only be a short drop.  
“That is an excellent idea my loyal subject, now help me down please!”

You’re not exactly sure how you’re supposed to help Four down, but it likely shouldn’t have gone this way.  
Skipping over to the bus, a half bottle of Jack Daniel’s sloshing away in your hand, you pause just beneath Four, waving up at him with a cheesy grin, before extending your arms in front of you, with the plan of catching him. Without even so much as a pause, Four leaps off the trailer and into your waiting arms. Anyone who wasn’t currently shitfaced would’ve seen that this was a terrible plan, and that it wouldn’t end the way you both expected. However, being shitfaced as you were, it took you more than a few seconds to comprehend what had happened.  
One moment you were standing upright, and the next, your entire body had been slammed into the ground bellow, a heavy weight pressing against your front.  
“Ugh, fuck…” You groan, blinking bleary eyes down at the mass that was slowly crushing you.

Four looks up at you, a lopsided grin brightening up his entire face. “ ‘As anyone ever told you that you’re very comfortable?” He mumbles, speech slurred and slow.

“Can’t say that they have.”

“Well, you are.”

Four lowers his head down, cheek resting against your chest as his eyes flutter closed. You want to protest; this man was five foot eight and made of pure muscle! Yet your aching body began to relax, as you heard tiny snores escape the Brit. As you allowed yourself to drift off, ignoring how you were sleeping on the ground, your mind started to wonder. ‘How had this man, who you had shared no more than five consecutive words with at one time, gone from being the person you avoided at all costs, and now to the person you got piss drunk with, and allowed to fall asleep on you?’

*****

_“Briefing room, five minutes!” Seven called behind your closed trailer door, not bothering to knock, knowing full well his voice could be heard clearly through the thin metal that was your trailer.  
You’d just finished your morning routine of; wake up, drink coffee, go for a run, drink more coffee while you updated yourself on the happenings of the world on your laptop, eat breakfast, have a ten minute internal battle over whether you should go back to bed or not, in that time drink a third cup of coffee, ignore Five’s suggestion of perhaps not ingesting so much caffeine, shower, then return to your trailer while your hair dried and go through the building blueprints One had sent you. _

_Slowly, you stood up from your bed, stretching your arms above your head after having sat hunched over for too long. You close your laptop, then set about searching for a sweater to throw on over the top of your shirt. Outside, the base was stifling hot, yet for some reason, the briefing room was perpetually freezing. One always insisted on turning on every single fan in the shipping container, and it was just too much! After the third team meeting there, you had vowed never to return without a sweater.  
Finally, you found the one you were looking for, dark gray with a red #mood splattered across the chest. The sweater itself was perhaps one or two sizes too large, but it was warm and snuggly._

_You made your way towards the briefing room, slipping the sweater over your head when you were halfway there. As you pull the material down your torso, you fail to realise that you’d put the garment on backwards, coming to an abrupt halt when you notice that the hood was over your head, completely obscuring your face.  
Behind you, Four silently leaps from the roof of a shipping container, walking up behind you as you struggle to readjust the sweater.  
“Oh yeah, you should wear all your clothes like that. Prove to everyone that you’re as stupid as your role in the team is.” He snarls, pushing past you, knocking his side against your shoulder._

_You can feel your eyes roll, trailing behind Four as you both head towards the meeting “You know, at first it was kinda intimidating, the whole, ‘you don’t belong here’ schtick. But **really** , now it’s just sad. You don’t have to feel **threatened** by me, Luke never felt threatened when he discovered Leia could use the force too! As a Skywalker, you should know better than to allow your emotions to cloud your judgment.” There’s a grin clawing at your lips, which you no longer bother to hide, picking up speed and walking past the scowling blonde.  
If you had looked back you would’ve seen Four raise his eyebrows in surprise, not having expected you to talk back. Quietly, he was actually rather impressed that you had, even if in doing so you had continued with the Star Wars trend._

*****

_“Doctor Genevieve Lushnick, for twenty years she has worked as a general practitioner in a family owned GP clinic, and if she has it her way, will continue doing so until retirement. However, over time, her remedies have become more extreme. She stopped prescribing antibiotics to help fight infections, and instead would recommend her patients undergo unnecessary surgeries.” One begins, displaying images of the Doctor on the screen at the front of the room.  
Just the sound of her name makes you sick to your stomach, a sweat breaking out on your forehead, though no one seems to notice._

_“This is Doctor Gregory Lushnick, Genevieve’s husband. **He** , is the surgeon who has been performing the procedures, along with a well-paid, and unethical team of doctors and nurses. Genevieve will suggest the surgery, telling the patient that it is a matter of life and death, she will then refer them on to Gregory, who will of course agree with her course of action. The patient, who at this point has been warned if they aren’t operated on soon, they **will** die, will pay an exuberant fee, any amount the Lushnick’s request, which they then pocket for themselves.”_

_Three lifts his brows at the information they had all been presented with. “How have they gotten away with this? Surely they’ve had patients who know at least a little bit about general health, who know if a procedure they’ve been recommended is necessary or not?”_

_One nods, folding his arms across his chest while gazing out over his team, all with an equal expression of shock and disgust. Except for you, who looks on the verge of tears.  
“That actually happened a few times. A Doctor went and visited Genevieve after hearing about the outrageous number of procedures she had recommended. He went in complaining of an ingrown toenail that had become infected, which he did in fact have at the time, but was treating it himself. Genevieve took one look at it, and informed him that the infection was too far gone, and if they didn’t remove his toe urgently, the infection would likely spread, and perhaps enter his blood stream.  
He asked for some further testing to ensure Genevieve was correct, to which she obliged, and sent him to pathology to have blood taken.”_

_“Yeah, but if he got blood tests then that’s it right? Game over? The tests would prove that there’s nothing wrong with ‘im.” Four interjects, leaning his hip against the edge of the table everyone was stood around, taking care to watch you from his peripherals._

_“In a normal situation, then yes, you’d be correct. But this isn’t normal, nothing about the Lushnick’s is normal. The test results came back in, and of course, they read perfectly, no deadly infection obviously. But the convenient thing about living in the modern age we do, is that all test results are sent through electronically. All Genevieve had to do, was edit the results, and suddenly, her patient was suffering any ailment she wished! When she presented the results to him, and he played along, saying he would organise the procedure shortly. Instead, he went to the Minister of Health, and presented his findings. The Lushnick’s found out who he was, and what was happening and fled the country. No one knows where they went, so they escaped punishment.”_

_“Alright, so they fucked off somewhere else, but they’re not hurting anyone, anymore right? So how does this affect us?” Seven shrugged, One’s eyes boring into his._

_“I know exactly where the Lushnick’s are. They’ve been performing their surgeries in secret for a few years now, but they’ve moved on to more desperate patients, and are providing more extreme remedies. Rather than patients finding her, Genevieve is seeking out her own patients, the one’s who are unable to afford a visit to the Doctor’s surgery. She’ll play nice, offer them a free consult to ensure they’re all healthy, then she’ll drop the health bomb on them. These people are so afraid, that they will believe anything Genevieve tells them, and will do anything to get the money needed for their life saving surgery.”_

_Your hand grips the back of a chair, while your other presses flat against the wall nearest you. Your head is swimming, memories flooding back to you in a tidal wave. Heart racing so fast you think it’s about to explode, all the while sweat drips from your skin. No one notices, no one cares. They all have questions that need answering._

_Four notices though, how could he not? For weeks now, he had done nothing but watch you closely, always checking to make sure you were safe, and not putting yourself in any unnecessary danger. If you were going to stay with the team, and it looked as if you were, then he would keep an eye on you from a distance. He may not be your friend, but that didn’t mean he cared any less, not really._

_  
“What kind of surgeries are they doing now?” Five asks, her hands resting on her hips._

_“Similar to what they used to suggest, only now more extreme because they have a more desperate clientele. From what I could find, the most chilling was what she and Greg did to a fifteen year old boy. He was complaining of shortness of breath, and if he had been seen by **any** other Doctor, he would’ve been diagnosed with mild asthma, and given an inhaler to use. But Genevieve instead informed him and his father that he had a potentially life-threatening lung infection.” One pauses, a frown creasing his features as he looks over at you, your skin having grown pale and your eyes unfocused, you looked about ready to collapse.  
He pulls he gaze away for a moment to finish, though his eyes continue to dart back over to you. “The boy underwent surgery to have an entire lung removed. His father paid nearly twenty thousand for his son to have the surgery. Two weeks after the procedure, the boy died.”_

_A chocked sob rips from your lips, causing everyone to focus on you, six pairs of eyes staring you down. They all either thought you were crazy, or just overly emotional over the death of a kid you didn’t know. How could they know the truth, it’s not as if you had ever told anyone?  
“Eight? Are you alright?” Five asks slowly, reaching a hand towards you just as you step backwards._

_“Hey, sit down for a second kid…” Three offers, gesturing to the chair you had just released from your vice like grip._

_“It’s the sweater, she’s probably just over heated.” Four shrugs, though even with his air of indifference, his eyes are clouded with worry._

_Another sob followed by your nose sniffling. Were you crying? When had that started? You bring one hand up to your face, your fingers shaking the entire time, until they press against your cheeks, only to pull away a second later damp with tears.  
Lips are moving, but you don’t hear any of the words that are spoken, there’s a ringing in your ears which is too loud to ignore, and it drowns out everything other than your internal voice.  
The expressions the Ghosts wore changed from that of curiosity and caution, to full blown panic now as it dawned on them, that you truly weren’t alright.  
Just as One walks over to you, you spin on your heel, racing away from him and the team. You’re vaguely aware of people calling out after you, but you don’t turn back._

_You throw yourself into the gray McLaren which had unofficially become your car, after the driving display you had given a few weeks ago. The engine revs as you try to clear your mind enough to decide on where you were going. Should you be driving in the state you were now? Probably not. Were you going to anyway? Definitely. Were you more than willing to run over Four who now stood between you and the exit you wanted to take? Without a doubt.  
Pressing the tab on the door, the window lowers at what felt like a comically slow rate. _

_Four had sprinted after you the moment you left, and was now trying to decide what his next move should be. Behind the car, he could see the others grouped together, all unsure of what to do, just like him.  
“Either get in the fucking car or move. You have ten seconds or I’m driving through you!” You bark out of the window, providing him with the motivation required for him to spring into action. _

_The passenger door slams shut, with Four diving in just milliseconds before you slam on the gas, the car fishtailing for a moment, before flying through base. Four stares dead ahead, his mouth slightly agape, while you glare at the road, hands gripping the steering wheel so tight your knuckles had turned white. When you had given Four his options just before, you had never expected him to pick the first, and from the looks of things, neither had he._

_Silence fills the speeding car for twenty odd minutes, your eyes locked on the road ahead, while Four was staring out the passenger window, his elbow propped up on the centre console, while his other hand was resting with his fingers pressed to his lips. You felt as if you were being strangled in the silence, but neither of you were prepared to break it, both too stubborn to admit defeat, and voice your curiosity. Reaching one hand out, your hover above the power button for the stereo, taking your eyes off the road for just a second._

_Oh, how things can change in one second._

_The car had been travelling in an undisturbed straight line down the freeway, though all of that changed in a heartbeat. With your eyes focused elsewhere, you never saw the massive pothole looming ever closer to the McLaren.  
Just as you look back at the road, your eyes fall to the dip in the road, something that you should’ve avoided at all costs. Your barely functioning brain kicks in at the last minute, and just as one of your front tyre’s dips into the pothole, you spin the steering wheel, attempting to keep your remaining tyres from hitting the hole too.  
It was too little too late however, and instead of avoiding the pothole, the car spins out, flying off the edge of the road and skidding along the red dirt uncontrollably. Your shriek is the first sound to pierce the silence the entire drive, and it seems to be what snapped Four out of his shock._

_Four reaches out, taking the wheel in one hand, attempting to straighten out the cars path, while his other hand wraps around the handbrake, pulling it up with all his might. The McLaren spins for another few seconds, until coming to a halt, a cloud of dust having been kicked up by the erratic tyres.  
“Jesus Christ Eight! What the fuck was that about?” _

_You can’t answer him, your words are choked in your throat, and refuse to budge. You unclip your seatbelt and bolt out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition as you sprint away from both the car and Four.  
Why was he here? Out of everyone that could’ve blocked your path and jumped into the car, why did it have to be fucking Four? He didn’t give a shit what was going on with you on a regular day to day basis, so why the hell would he care about this?_

_Where were you even running to? You were in the middle of nowhere, and all that was around you was desert and the highway. There was nowhere for you to run to.  
As this realisation hits you, you stop dead in your tracks. Heart pounding in your chest. Clenching your fists at your sides, your drop to your knees in the middle of the desert, titling your head back, and screaming gutturally towards the sky, as fresh tears flow freely down your cheeks now._

_*****_

_Four had never seen someone lose control as you were doing now, he’d seen his fair share of people in pain, screaming and crying over the death of a loved one or because they were in pain. But this, it felt different to him. Watching you collapse to your knees, he felt his chest tighten, and his own breath hitched in his throat.  
Your scream rumbled through his entire body, and echoed around the empty sky, there was nothing around for miles that would block your screams.  
He didn’t know what else to do, so he grabbed the keys, pocketed them before jogging over to you._

_“Hey… Hey, it’s okay – You’re gonna be okay.” He whispers, kneeling beside you now, wrapping his arms around your shaking torso.  
He was sure that if it weren’t for the vulnerable position you found yourself in, that you would never return his embrace as you now were. But you did, your arms circling around his neck, as you pressed your face against his shoulder._

_“Any other target… It could’ve been anyone else.” You cry out, hot tears splashing against his thin t-shirt. Four tightens his grip around you, slowly lowering himself into a sitting position, and guiding you down with him. You follow him down, and he half expects you to break out of your emotions when he settles you against his lap, though that never happens._

_He rubs soothing circles against your back, listening for the sounds of your cries to ease, before he finally asks. “What d’you mean Eight? What’s wrong with the target?”_

_You shake your head, pressing further into his shoulder, as another body shaking sob overtakes you. Your mind is swimming in horrifying memories, and all you want to do is to claw them out of your brain. You want to forget; you **need** to forget.  
“Eight, look at me… Talk to me.”_

_Four rests his hands on both of your shoulders, gently guiding you away from him so he could look you in the eyes red rimmed and now puffy, though your tears had slowed at the very least.  
“Hey – Hi…”_

_*****_

_You blink across at Four, sniffling as you attempt to clear your thoughts. Why did he suddenly care what was wrong with you? For weeks now, he barely spoke a word to you, when he did, it was always something snarky or sarcastic. There was never any care for your wellbeing, so where had this all come from?  
“Hullo… I’m sorry. Please, just forget about that. I’m sorry.”_

_You move to pull away from Four, but his large hands on your shoulders tighten their grip, and you honestly just don’t have the energy to fight against him. “I’m not going to forget about this. Talk to me Eight, what happened back there?”_

_“What happened? I lost control of the car, it spun out. Happens to the best of us.” You shrug, opting to play dumb for a little while, just to see how far you would get with doing so._

_There’s a fierce glare that settles over Four’s eyes, and you can feel a physical chill run down your spine at the intensity of his gaze._

_“Don’t. Don’t you dare do that.”_

_“Do what?”_

_“Pretend to be stupid. We both know you’re the furthest from stupid a person could possibly get.” Four breathes out deeply, closing his eyes for a moment, before opening them and reconnecting his sight with yours._

_You’re not sure which is more likely to occur first, your heart stopping entirely or for it to literally explode under the amount of stress you’re experiencing right now. “It’s the Lushnick’s. I – I know them. Or at least, I did know them.”_

_Four stills his movements, where he had been drawing tiny patterns against your shoulders, he no longer seems able to do even that. “What do you mean you know the Lushnick’s?” His voice comes out strangled, and if you didn’t know any better, you would think he was worried about you._

_“Doctor Genevieve, the clinic she worked in was local to my family when I was little. When I was around five, I had a babysitter, Kellie, she would look after me every afternoon after school, and some weekends. She would’ve been around seventeen, and at the time was my best friend. I didn’t get along with the kids in my class, so I turned to Kellie, she was always there for me, and I loved her like a sister.” There, that was the easy part to talk about. You could just leave the story there, but really, you know you couldn’t do that. You had given away too much to stop now.  
“Every afternoon, she would walk me home from school. On the walk, we would pass by the clinic where Doctor Lushnick worked. One afternoon, when we were heading home, Kellie started to feel dizzy, I remember she was struggling to walk, and I was worried. I left her on a bench, and ran to the Doctor’s clinic. The receptionist grabbed the first doctor she could find, Genevieve, and we all ran to Kellie to help her.”_

_“Fuck Eight, I’m sorry –“_

_You cut Four off before he can say anymore. “Let me finish. There’s more to tell, and I can’t stop now.” You pause for a moment, waiting to see if he had anything else to say, but clearly he thought better than to speak up again.  
“Doctor Lushnick performed heaps of tests, I remember she kept sending Kellie for more and more blood tests, x-rays and ultrasounds. Always telling her and her family that the results had come back inconclusive. It must’ve been around two weeks, until Kellie was given her diagnosis. Heart failure. I don’t remember much of what happened after that, there was a lot of adult conversations had that I wasn’t made a part of. What I do know though, is that Genevieve sent Kellie to have a heart transplant. Kellie was terrified, I can still hear her crying, begging her parents not to make her go through with the surgery. Her parents didn’t want her to have it done either, but Genevieve and Gregory made it sound as if it were her only option. They told Kellie and her parents that without the surgery, she would die.”_

_Tears had returned to your eyes now, and Four pulled you subtly closer to him, not enough so you were embraced as you were before, but enough that you could feel his warmth soaking into you, and hear his steady heartbeat.  
“Kellie had the surgery, and was recovering relatively well. She was in the hospital still so the nurses could keep an eye on her while she healed. After school one day, I lied and told my parents I was going to a friend’s house, and that no one needed to pick me up until later. Instead I went to the hospital to visit Kellie. I had gone to see her twice after the surgery, and both times she had seemed alright, at least in my eyes she did. This third time though, when I got to her room, everything was different. She was pale and sweating, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath. There was no one else in the room for me to get, so I pressed the call button from the side of her bed, and in came running nurses and doctors. No one really explained to me what had happened that day until I was older. And it wasn’t until I was much older, did I realise truly what had happened, and with the information One gave us today, I knew for sure. Kellie was never supposed to have had that surgery, her body underwent unnecessary trauma, which it couldn’t heal from. Doctor Genevieve and Gregory Lushnick murdered my best friend.”_

_Suddenly, you were pressed against Four’s chest, as your felt tears stream over your cheeks. He held you firmly, his warm embrace was one of comfort and peace, two things you had never associated with the man. “When One was telling us about what they had done to others, I just couldn’t stop the memories from coming back, everything I felt back then, it all came rushing back to me.”_

_“It’s alright, fuck Eight. I’m sorry, I am so sorry. I wish there was more I could say..”_

_You gulp, before looking up at him, your eyes scanning over his handsomely chiselled face for the very first time. In the time you had been with the team, not once had you had the opportunity to look at Four up close, and of course this would be your first chance. While sitting on his lap, crying your heart out, as you both grew more covered in dust.  
“Promise me we’ll make them pay. Promise me that we’ll get them both, and that they won’t get away.”_

_Four allows a deep breath to flow from his parted lips, the lines on his forehead smoothing as he takes in your words. “I promise you, they won’t make it through this alive.”_

_*****_

_Allowing Four to drive you both back to base had likely been one of the best decisions you had made in a long time. Despite the panic and anger which had clouded you before, now faded to a dull shadow, you were still shaky, and your concentration was easily lost. Four driving truly was the safest option, if you both wanted to arrive home in one piece.  
“Can we stop in town?”_

_Four glances at you for a moment, retracting his hand which was resting on your knee. The entire drive, you would find Four resting his hand somewhere on your leg. To you, it was grounding and comforting, serving to remind you that you weren’t alone. It let you know that someone else on the team understood your connection to the targets. For Four however, you weren’t sure if he was doing it out of habit, or for comfort too.  
“Sure, what do you need?”_

_Turning to look at his side glance, you allow a tiny smile to tug at the corners of your lips. “I desperately need a drink. You’re welcome to join me if you’d like, but I’m sure you’d rather forget that this all happened.” You shrug softly, before turning to look back out of the passenger window._

_Four’s eyes grow wide at your comment, and he finds himself at a loss for words. “I- You- What?”_

_Pressing your forehead against the window, you take a deep breath in, before blowing out through your mouth, fogging the glass up in the process. “I appreciate you following me out here today, I really do. But, let’s be honest, we’re not friends. You hate me. You’ve made that perfectly clear since the day I arrived. So, while I’m happy to extend the invitation of getting piss drunk with me, I’m not expecting you to accept.”_

_“I don’t.”_

_“You don’t what?”_

_“Hate you… I’m sca – Way too sober to have this conversation right now. But put it this way, I don’t hate you.”_

_Four focuses back on the road, while his words swirl through your mind. ‘Scared? Was he about to say he was scared? Scared of what though? He always seemed so grounded, almost as if nothing could touch him, let alone hurt him…’  
On the drive away from base, you hadn’t paid any attention to where you were headed, not really. All you knew at the time, was that you needed to get as far away from everyone as was humanly possible. Which is why it came as a surprise to you when Four pulled into a small town, not the one you had visited with Two and Five a few weeks ago, but an entirely different one which you had never known to exist.  
“There’s a liquor store just up that side street there.” Four observes, while pointing to the left of the town, where sure enough, there was an opening in the path for the side street. _

_You nod, climbing out of the car, just as Four lowers his window and the passenger side window. “I’ll be back in a few. Want anything?”_

_Four shakes his, carding his fingers through is windswept curls. “Thanks, I’m good.” It’s said with such a firm edge to the words, that you **know** the conversation is over, before it really began. _

_As you walk down the street, you look back over your shoulder at Four and the McLaren. His wrists are wresting on top of the steering wheel, as he picks at his nails, clearing them of the dirt that had gathered there from earlier. Music was pumping through the speakers, and you could see the car shaking with the intensity of the bass  
Turning the corner, the liquor store comes into view, a small bell chiming as the door pushes open. A man, likely in his forties or fifties is stood near the cooler section, collapsing empty beer boxes. Looking at the few shelves that lined the wall nearest the register, you feel a lump rise in your throat. In your haste to leave base, you hadn’t brought anything with you, no phone, no wallet, no money!_

_“Can I help you with anything?” The man calls from the opposite side of the store, eyeing you suspiciously._

_“Just looking thank you!”_

_The man squints at you, his eyebrows furrowed. “Hope you’ve got some ID kid…. You don’t look old enough to be buying anything from here…”_

_Your jaw drops at his words, a scowl marching across your features. How dare he question your age, suggesting you weren’t old enough to drink! You had never been ID’d before now, and now that you were not only dead, and still waiting on One to present you with your fake ID’s. But you didn’t even have your bloody wallet with you, where said fake would be kept, this was the time, of all times where the world decided to turn against you and start questioning your age?  
“Of course I have ID with me.” _

_The man watches you for another moment, as if assessing whether he could trust you or not. With a final huff, he bends over and picks up a box of beers, pushing the cooler door open and heading inside to restock the fridge shelves, clearly having decided you were trustworthy.  
Oh buddy, wrong decision._

_Maybe it was because of the shithouse afternoon you had just experienced, or maybe it was because you were sick and tired of people making assumptions about you. No matter the why’s, you found yourself snatching bottles of Jack Daniel’s, Malibu, and salted caramel vodka. Without a second thought, you cradled them against your chest, then bolted for the front door._

_“Get back here you thief!” The man screams after you, having re-emerged from the fridge just as the door swung closed behind you._

_This was wrong, so fucking wrong! It was one thing to steal money from a stranger’s bank account (Granted that stranger then went on to fake your death, and now was your employer…) Or to work from afar and have people do the dirty work, while you reaped the benefits, they did the snatching and grabbing, you just made sure they didn’t get caught.  
But this? This was **you** stealing, with no one else there! This was all **you!**_

_Your feet pound against the pavement, the McLaren coming into view just as the store clerk sprints after you. “Open the fucking door Four!” You shriek from the top of your lungs, praying to any deity who may listen that he will hear you over the pumping music._

_Despite your thieving tendencies, someone answers your prayer, and Four looks up and over to you through the open passenger window, his eyebrows shooting up into his hair line as he spots you sprinting at full speed towards him, three bottles clutched in your arms, as a pissed man follows close behind.  
He leans across the centre console, pushing the door open before returning to his seat fully and twisting the key in the ignition. With the sound of the door slamming shut behind you, he throws the car into reverse, getting you both the hell out of town! “What the actual fuck Eight? What did you do?”_

_You stare down at the three bottles, now laying by your feet, rocking back and forth as the car moves. Laughter bubbles from your chest, and you can’t help the burst of chuckles that rip through you. “I didn’t have any money…”_

_For a brief moment, you could’ve sworn you saw Four grin, though the look is soon replaced by a sigh. “And you didn’t think to come and ask me if I had any?”_

_“ **Do** you have money on you?”_

_“No… But that’s not the point! Your first instinct was to steal what you wanted!”_

_“Are you seriously telling me off for stealing? Sorry, last I heard, One met you after a robbery gone wrong.”_

_Four’s grip on the wheel tightens for a few moments, before his knuckles relax somewhat, tension visibly leaving his shoulders. “Now we’ve gotta find a new liquor store.”_

_*****_

_Walking through base, you felt everyone’s eyes on you, all boring down on you, as if thinking if they stared long enough then they would understand what had happened to you. There’s a part of you that wants to explain yourself, and to reassure the team that you are in fact, **not** insane as they may now think. However, before you even have the chance to consider explaining yourself, Four is dragging you by the hand towards your trailer. “If anyone needs us, don’t. Just don’t fucking need us!” He calls out behind you, gripping the bottle of Malibu with such intensity your genuinely worried he might smash the glass. _

_Four’s warning seemed to have worked, at least for the time being, and you watched as the Ghosts all shuffled away, back to whatever they had been doing before your arrival. One stays out for a few moments longer, arms folded across his chest, and both eyebrows raised in confusion. You can see the questions he’s dying to ask dancing across his eyes, mixed with a look of what could only be described as, understanding.  
You don’t take the time to dwell on One, as you’re far too preoccupied with Four who had swung your trailer door open, and was pushing you inside and up the steps, his hands pushing against your lower back to keep you moving. _

_Four followed you up, placing the Malibu on the small table opposite your bed, while you plonked down on the bed, the bottles of Jack and vodka falling to the foot of your mattress.  
“Right, you stay here as long as you need to. Drink, get smashed, scream, cry. Whatever you wanna do.” His broad shoulders shrug, as he turns away from you, and steps back towards the door, resting both hands in his front pants pockets._

_Quickly, you twist off the cap of the vodka, the strong scent of salted caramel filling the air. “The offer still stands. Only this time, I’d like you to join me…”_

_Four turns on the spot, looking back at you in surprise. “You sure?”_

_“Yes, I – I want you here with me please.”_

_There’s no need to ask him a second time, though you would’ve if necessary. Four reaches out and takes the vodka from your outstretched hand, bringing it to his lips and taking a deep swig. Just as you do the same with the Jack. “Cheers to your first mission briefing.” He chuckles, his crystalline eyes sparkling in joy._

_You roll your eyes up at him, as you move further back on the bed, leaning your back against the wall. “Let’s try not to make this a tradition yeah?”_

_“It’s been five seconds, and you already hate drinking with me enough to never want to do it again?”_

_“That’s not what I meant. The drinking, I’d be willing for the to be a tradition. The whole, me running away from base thing though? Yeah, let’s not do that again.”_

_Four nods, his curls swaying under the gesture, before he takes another swig, savouring the sharp after burn the vodka left in the back of his throat. You crawl up off the bed, and shuffle over to the small, mint green radio that was set up towards the back of the trailer, fiddling with the dials before it decided to pick up something other than static.  
“I won’t let that happen again… You won’t be hurt like that again.” Four breathes out, though the words are drowned out by the functioning radio._

_“Fuck! I love this song!” You squeal, turning the volume up to full, dancing to the blasting music._

_“Seriously, Kesha? Out of all the music you could love, it’s this?”_

_“Don’t be an ass. This is **my** trailer, and **my** booze, I can and will kick you out if you’re not careful!” _

_“It’s stolen booze, so technically, the shop still owns it, not you….”_

_You don’t really think about your next move, all you know is that one moment you were drinking from the bottle of Jack while dancing and being sassed at by Four, and the next, you had grabbed one of your multiple decorative pillows, and had begun attacking him with it. Four grabbed his own pillow, and retaliated in kind, swatting you left right and centre, all the while attempting to not spill either of your drinks.  
And thus started the great pillow war of 2020. _

_*****_

You don’t know what time it is, there’s a gentle stream of light washing over you as you carefully peel your eyes open, though a set of curtains over the window make it impossible for you to see anything else, other than the suns rays. Lifting your arms above your head, you stretch your aching body, before finally giving in and opening your eyes fully.  
It takes far too long for you to realise something was wrong.  
This was not where you had fallen asleep, quite the opposite actually. You know for a fact you had fallen asleep outside, in the dirt no less, with Four using you as a pillow. Yet somehow, you were now alone, in a strangers bed, inside a strangers trailer….

You sit bolt upright, your stomach instantly churning at your sudden movements, you blanch at the taste of bile as it rises in your throat, swallowing it back down. Slowly, you look around the trailer, finding nothing familiar in the small space. “Four?”  
It had to be his home… You had been inside everyone else’s trailer, but never his. With a great deal of care, you pull yourself off the bed, pressing a hand over your eyes for a moment, as you feel a wave of dizziness wash over you. “Four? Hello?”

Looking around, you find no trace of him, or at least nothing that pointed to his whereabouts. You pass by a mirror as you walk towards the door, and you take a moment to assess your reflection. Your hair was knotted, sweaty, and had flecks of dirt tangled in it, there were deep set bags under your eyes, and overall you looked, and felt like death. Though all that combined, you still felt better now, than you had yesterday during the briefing.

You allow the trailer door to swing shut behind you, spotting a determined looking Two, marching across base and headed to the rec room. Was there another meeting this morning? Had you slept through the announcement, and Four couldn’t be bothered to wake you up?  
There was no time to think over the millions of possibilities as to what had happened, all you know, was that if Two was storming off somewhere, it was likely the best course of action would be to follow her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, yeah..... I;m sorry now about how angsty that was. (Also for those who have read my Brian May multi chapter fic, He'll save every one of us. You may have picked up on a reoccurring theme of friends dying.... Yeah, that's a thing that happened.)
> 
> Anyways, chapter six will be out within 1-2 weeks, and that will show less angst, and perhaps a little something something between Four and Eight....🤷


	6. I'm free falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, welcome to chapter six!  
> This one starts off with a little bit of angst and tension, then moves into fluff, so I hope you're all excited for that!

“Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“Don’t fuck with me One! Did you know about Eight’s connection to the next targets?”

One takes in Four’s anger, taking note of his balled fists, and rigid posture. The man was ready for a fight, a fight which One had no intention of giving him.  
“Of course I knew. That’s part of the reason why I brought her in for the team.”

Pure hatred flashes through Four’s eyes, and in that moment, all he can see is white, pure raging white fire burning through his entire being. “You fucking _knew?_ And you made her _listen_ to you at the briefing yesterday? Do you have _any_ idea what that did to her? She was fucking _broken!_ Christ knows where she was headed in that fucking car! And if I wasn’t with her, then God knows where she would’ve gone, or where she’d be right now!”

In the years One had known Four, he had never heard him yell quite like this. With the way he was reacting, it was almost as if One had done something to hurt him, rather than you. “She was angry right? That’s what we need. This mission, it’s personal for her now, she’ll work twenty times better knowing that she’s able to get revenge on the people who hurt her.”

“How the hell do you know that? What if she sees the Lushnick’s and then freezes up? What happens then huh? Did you think about _that_ as a possibility, oh fearless leader!”

“I will _not_ say this again Four. You are _never_ to question me on our missions, or who joins the team. That is _not your_ place!”

“What the fuck is _my_ place then? Leap from a building or two, while you play with people’s emotions?”

The door to the rec room slams shut behind a new arrival, footsteps echoing over to where the two men stood by the pool table. With the door closed, the room was plunged into an eery darkness, that was thick like fog. There were lights around the room of course, but no one had thought to turn them on, as the natural daylight streaming through the door just before, had been more than suitable.

  
“Nothing personal.” An accented voice breaks through the darkness, as the footsteps grow nearer to the two men.  
“When you recruited me, that’s what you said. Nothing we do was supposed to be personal.” Two steps in front of One, her hand gripping a pool cue which she held behind her back. “Four is correct, Eight is too close to the targets. It could jeopardise the whole mission.”

*****

You followed behind Two, making your way inside the rec room directly after her, she didn’t appear to be aware of your presence, and the words she spat at One only served to confirm that suspicion.  
Through the darkness, you could barely make out the outlines of three people, it was obvious that One and Two made up 2/3 of the trio, but who the third was remained a mystery.  
“What if she loses focus like she did in the briefing yesterday? We can’t let that happen during a mission, or we’ll all be killed!”

“She won’t lose focus; I can promise you that. Eight is more resilient than I’ve given her credit for, she would pull through the mission, just like the rest of us. It’s the emotional toll I’m concerned about. If you had heard the way she spoke about the Lushnick’s, you’d understand…” Four defends, his voice ringing clearly in your ears.

Despite your near crippling hangover, you push your way over to the trio, resting a hand on Two’s shoulder, silently requesting she move out of your way. Once she did, you stood directly in front of One, a firm glare locking with his surprised eyes.  
“You knew, didn’t you?” You hiss out, lower lip beginning to tremble. “I don’t know how, but somehow you knew that I had come into contact with the Lushnick’s, is that right?”

There’s no use in lying to you, even if he did, Both Four and Two would be quick to give the correct answer. “Yes.”

Short and simple, the one word he had spoken was enough to send an almost physical pain through you. Why had you ever thought you could trust this man? Or any of the Ghosts for that matter? They were all criminals, just as you were, nothing about any of them was trustworthy. So why, oh why had you ever thought that One would have your interests at heart?

“It’s alright, you don’t need to be a part of the mission. We’ll work it around you-” You cut Four off, brining your hand up in front of his face. It was hardly a polite gesture, but you needed him to let you speak.

“From this point you do _not_ get to speak about the Lushnick’s. I don’t want to hear a word about them coming from you. Any and all briefings in regard to this mission will be done by me…”

“Get fucked, you’re not the leader of this group kid, you have no authority to lead a mission briefing!” One cuts in.

You don’t hesitate, nor do you think about your next move, bringing your hand up and swiftly slapping your palm across One’s cheek.  
A firm glare casts over your gaze as you lock eyes with the cringing man, the sharp smack from your attack echoing throughout the shipping crate.   
“This is _not_ a dictatorship! You are _not_ the leader of this group! We all work together, you just happen to be the one with the _biggest_ fucking ego, so we let you talk just because you like the sound of your own god damned voice!”

“Eight, that is enough.” Two begins, stepping up behind you, and resting her hand over your shoulder.

“No! I’m not finished!” You snap back, jerking your shoulder away from her. “We’re doing this mission; we’re going to kill the Lushnick’s even if it’s the last fucking thing I do. But _you_ , you do not get to make any more plans for this mission without running them by me first.” Your voice is a snarl, and your eyes have remained locked with One’s this entire time. He almost seems afraid to breathe, let alone move under your harsh look.  
“Is that understood?”

One’s head jerks in a nodding motion, his adams apple bobbing and he breathes deeply. “Y-Yes, you’re in charge of the mission.”

There’s a part of you which is aching to slap him once more, but the look of genuine sorrow gracing his features, is enough to make you think better of doing so. “Next time someone has personal connection to a target, you’d better fucking tell them before the first briefing, or I’ll fucking kill you.”   
You don’t await an answer, spinning on your heel and marching from the shipping crate, a blinding headache piercing behind your eyes, which the sun does little to help once you make it back outside.  
“Hey! Hey Eight, wait!” Four calls behind you, his long-legged steps allowing him to catch up with you quickly. “Hey… That was, um, that was really something.” He offers, gesturing to the briefing room with a tilt of his head.

A faint blush creeps along your cheeks as you meet his sparkling emerald eyes, the mid-morning sun casting a glorious halo around his golden locks. “Thanks. I’ll probably live to regret it though. Once he’s recovered from the initial shock that is.”

Four shakes his head no, grinning gently. “Don’t worry about that, Neither Two nor I will let him go back on the deal you just made. You’re in charge now, at least until the next targets.”

You bring your hand up to drag your fingers through your hair, turning and making your way towards the trailers. “Thank you Four.”

“Why are you thanking me? I didn’t do anything?” Four walked alongside you, his head titled to the left in confusion.

“Well, if I’m not mistaken, what I walked in on in the briefing room, was in fact you fighting for me, and defending me.” You shrug lightly, scuffing your feet along the red dirt as you walk, creating a small cloud along the ground.

“Oh, yeah. I guess I was huh?”

“It’s okay to let the tough guy act down sometimes, you know that right?” You pause once you’re stood out the front of your trailer, leaning your side against the door.

Four shakes his head, blonde curls swaying from side to side. “No it’s not. Not around here at least, gotta keep up appearances and all that. I can’t have people thinking I’ve gone soft.”

You bite down on your lower lip, chewing for a few seconds as you allow the Brits words to sink in. It makes sense, Four had clearly built up a reputation as the bad boy, and you couldn’t necessarily blame him for not wanting to tarnish it.  
“Fine, how about just around me then? Let _me_ get to know the _real_ you at the very least?”

_*****_

“I really don’t want to do this!”

“Come on, you have to! It’s not that hard!”

“I don’t have to! I see no reason why I can’t just jump down and walk the rest of the way?”

“Because that defeats the entire purpose!”

“Have I mentioned I hate you?”

“Not in the last five minutes!”

“Good, then it’s high time I remind you!” You glare across at Four who was stood atop and airplane directly in front of you, arms folded and a cocky grin gracing his features. “I genuinely cannot do this, it’s too far to jump!”

“Oh come on, it’s no worse than the jump you did from Three’s trailer to Five’s!”

“Yes, it is worse! Far worse!” You grumble, scowling at the massive gap between your current platform of the bathroom roof, and the plane.

Four settles himself down into a cross legged position, grinning back at you. “I’ll make you a deal. If you can make it across, you get to ask me a question. Anything you want, it can be as personal as you’d like.”

Your arms fold across your chest, regarding Four with a raised eyebrow. It was a rather appealing offer, you had so many questions for him, and he was never too forthcoming with answers. For example, one week ago, the night after you had both gotten blind drunk together after the initial briefing, you had asked him why he had taken you back to his trailer, instead back to yours. The only response you had gotten, was a shrug and a smirk!  
“Alright then Jedi, you’re on.”

Four perks up at this, lifting both brows in surprise. He hadn’t expected you to take him up on the offer, hell, it had been nearly impossible convincing you to learn some parkour off of him at all! The fact that all he needed to do was entice you with answering your questions, to get you to perform the next leap, was rather shocking. He picks himself up, watching you intently as you brace for your next leap.

“If I die-”

“Tell your parents you love them?”

“It’s a little late for that.” You smirk, walking backwards until you reach the end of the roof. The building was long enough that you could break into a sprint and gain enough speed to allow you to perform the jump.

“Any time now Techno.” Four smirks, chuckling at the nickname he had come up with for you. It was horrendously unoriginal, however you liked it more than being referred to as Eight.

You ignore his taunting, and breakout into a sprint, darting from one end of the roof to the other, just as your toes nudge the ledge of the shipping crate, you spring up with your other foot, propelling yourself forwards and into the air.   
Your body flies through the air, and in that moment, you finally understand just why Four loves doing this so much. You felt free, as if all your worries were left behind you, back on solid ground.

It occurs to you as you’re soaring, that you aren’t going to make the jump, you’re beginning to drop in altitude, and you aren’t close enough to the plane to grab onto it. A yelp slips from your lips as you drop lower, this wouldn’t be the first time you had fallen during practice with Four, but this would be the tallest drop.   
Four seems to realise what is happening at the same moment you do, and races towards you. His arm flies out in front of him, just as you stretch an arm out as if you could try and grab the plane as you fall. There’s a brief moment where your fingers brush against one another, but it’s too little too late. Four can’t get a hold of your hand, and you can’t stop yourself from falling.   
“ _Brace!”_ Four yells, and you do just that, flinging your arms out to your sides, and slapping your palms against the ground as you make contact, your arms absorbing most of the impact.

Four races down from the plane leaping from roof, to wing, to wheel then finally to ground. He made it all look so easy, and for that, you truly hated him!  
“Wanna try that again?”

“I hate you.” You grumble, pushing up into a sitting position, and dusting the dirt off your back.

“Hey! It hasn’t been five minutes! You can’t hate me again yet!”

“Watch me.” Four extends his hand down to you, which you obligingly take, clasping your hand with his as you are pulled up to your feet. You groan deeply, feeling something in your back pop back into place.

“So, you wanna try that one again?”

You know he’s joking, or at least you hope he’s bloody joking! “Shockingly, I think I’ll give the whole, skywalking thing, a break for the afternoon.”

Four pouts down at you, a brief look of concern flashing across his eyes. “Aw come on! If you don’t try again, then you won’t ever make the landing, and you’ll never get to ask me your question!”

You whirl around on the spot, rubbing your knuckles into a particularly tender spot on your lower back “Hold up, are you saying that I don’t get to ask anything?”

Four nods, a cheeky grin on his lips. “Too right! You didn’t make it across, that was part of the deal!”

“I nearly died! Surely that warrants me asking my question!”

“For someone who nearly died, you seem to be walking just fine…”

“Ow, oooh, argh! The pain! Oh Lord have mercy, the pain!” You cry out, squeezing your eyes closed, as you double over, resting your forearms on your knees. Squinting one eye open, you chance a glance up at Four, who is trying extremely hard to hide the smirk forming on his face.

“You’re such a drama queen, you know that right?”

“It’s not nice to speak ill of someone in pain.”

Four rolls his eyes, no longer hiding his smirk. “Alright then cripple, hold on.” You’re not sure what you had expected to happen next, but having Four wrap his arms around you, then hoist you over his shoulder, was certainly not what you had planned.

You lay over his broad shoulder, bent almost entirely in half, with your arms crossed and laying against his back, your chin propped up on them. Four wrapped his arms around your thighs, hugging them close to his chest, and ensuring you weren’t about to fall. “Comfortable?” He chuckles, and you can feel the rumble of his laughter roll through you.

“Not exactly, but it sure beats walking!” You giggle, absently brushing your fingers along his back, trailing them down along his spine. You feel his body shudder beneath you, and you carefully pull your fingers away, afraid he may either drop you, or tell you off for being so bold.

“Not that I’m going to answer it. But what was your question going to be if you _had_ made the jump?” His voice is strained, and you can hear what almost sounds like nerves mixing with his words.

You pause, thinking over what you would’ve asked. You have so many questions, but seeing as he wasn’t going to answer anyways, you felt it hardly mattered what you said now. “I wanted to know your real name. You know, so I could stop calling you Star Wars characters.”

“Well fuck, now I really wish you _had_ made that jump!”

You shrug as best you can, a broad grin hidden from Four’s eyes. “That’s a shame. Guess you’ll have to put up with it just a little but longer, _Luke_.”

“Do you enjoy tormenting me?”

Your head nods eagerly, and despite four not able to see the motion, you know he can feel it. “Oh absolutely, it’s one of the few entertaining things to do around here!”

Four grunts, and you know for a fact he’s rolling his eyes. You had come to pick up on his little habits, such as the small grunt that would press from the back of his throat whenever he rolled his eyes. It had surprised you at first, to realise you recognised something as small as this, but you supposed, given the amount of time you two had been spending together lately, it made sense. You were sure he had picked up on some of your quirks too.  
“Where are you taking me right now?”

“Bathrooms? Figured you’d want a shower before tonight?”

You frown softly, wracking your brains for what was so special about tonight. “You’ve lost me… What’s tonight?”

Four laughs, that same deep rumble flowing through you, like a warm breeze, filling you from the chest outwards. “Final briefing drinks are tonight, remember?”

You shake your head no. “I don’t follow… I vaguely remember Three inviting me out for drinks tonight, but I don’t recall him giving any reason behind it.”

“Sounds about right, he forgets you’re new to the team sometimes.” Four offers. “It’s a tradition for us now, Six started it before Florence, and it stuck with us for our last mission, and here we are again. The night before our final mission briefing, we all go out to the pub, and just have an all-around good night. It’s kind of like, our final hoorah, on the off chance things don’t end well during the mission.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to go out the night before the mission?”

“But then there’s the very real possibility we would all show up hungover as hell for the mission, and then run the risk of blowing it!”

“So instead everyone will show up to _my_ briefing hungover? This doesn’t fill me with confidence…”

Four squeezes your legs, eliciting a small gasp from you. “You worry too much! Your briefing will be great tomorrow, and the mission will be flawless. Just, enjoy tonight, with me… Please?”

Your words catch in your throat, Four sounded so sincere, almost as if he genuinely wanted to spend time with you tonight… “Alright. Fine, I’ll go, I’ll have fun.”

“Atta girl!” Four grins, before bending down and depositing you back on solid ground. His arms remain around you for a few seconds longer than necessary, not that you were complaining. He seems to realise you were still held in his loose embrace, and pulls away suddenly, a deep blush creeping up his neck and cheeks.

You shuffle your feet against the dirt, looking between Four and the bathroom block, rubbing your arm gently. “Um, thanks for the lift here. But, um… Well now I’ve gotta go back across base to my trailer and grab my bathroom stuff….”

“Fuck! I knew we were forgetting something!”

“It’s chill, don’t stress. I mean hey, at least I didn’t have to walk here myself.” You grin, walking backwards and over towards your trailer.

“I’ll, uh – see you later then, yeah?” Four calls, walking in the opposite direction from you, and towards his own trailer.

“Course you will!” Before you have the chance to make a fool of yourself, you turn away from Four, and powerwalk your way to your trailer.   
Once you arrive, you make quick work of collecting your toiletries, and grabbing your fluffy pink robe from the back of the trailer door. When you had first arrived here, whenever you left the bathroom block after a shower, you would make sure you were fully clothed, and looked presentable. Yeah, that had lasted a grand total maybe one month at max? Now days, you did as the others did, and walked across base in your robe. A few of the others opted for walking around in just their towel, but you liked to be at least semi covered.

By the time you make it back to the shower block, you can hear water running from the men’s side, and you assume Four had made it back before you had.   
Placing your items on one of the shelves, and striping from your dust covered clothes, you turn the shower on, allowing the water the heat up just enough for your liking. You wrap your towel around your torso, waiting for the water, and tapping your foot along to the beat that was stuck in your head. It was unlikely anyone else would come in to use the bathroom while you were in here, but that didn’t stop you from wanting to be covered, on the off chance someone did.   
Just as you’re about to step into the warm stream of water, movement from the corner of your eye catches your attention.  
“Hello?”

You’re rather thankful you don’t hear a response, though it does leave you with an uneasy feeling in your stomach. You move to take off your towel, when the movement catches your attention once more. “What the hell?”  
You tighten the towel around your chest, holding it closed firmly with both hands, as you walk towards the movement. If it had only occurred once, you would’ve put it down to your imagination, but the same thing happening twice? That was more than a coincidence. Making your way towards the sink, you keep your eyes peeled for what you had seen, though you truly weren’t sure what you were supposed to be looking for.

Just as you’re about to give up and put the whole thing down to you being over tired, a long, thick rope slithers along the ground, emerging from a toilet stall. No, not a rope, this was a snake… The scream which tears from your mouth is enough wake up an entire neighbourhood, and to frighten the snake too.

You’re frozen in fear, the brown snake watching you intently, as if challenging you to move. Though even if you had wanted to, you physically couldn’t right now. Steam was slowly filling the bathroom, as your long-forgotten shower continued to flow. The snake was a solid tan brown colour, with circles of a much darker brown, filled with an almost orange colour. If you knew more about reptiles, you would know this was northern copperhead, but alas, you knew nothing of the sorts.

“Eight? Eight are you alright?” Four yells, barging his way into the women’s bathroom, his eyes darting between yours and the object of your fear. His hair was still wet, droplets of water sprinkling down his forehead, and nape of his neck. All he wore was a towel, wrapped low around his waist, and clearly having been put on in a hurry. It’s nearly impossible to tear your eyes away from this Grecian god of a man, or from the droplet of water which was slowly cascading down his neck, and had made it partially down his chest.   
Four clears his throat, having caught you staring, and you blink rapidly to clear your thoughts.

Right, yes, you were supposed to be frightened, that’s right!  
“Th-there’s a snake…”

Four nods slowly, turning his attention away from you, and back to said snake. “Alright, very slowly, grab your things, don’t make any sudden movements. It won’t attack if you don’t give it a reason to.”

You nod softly once, trying desperately to build up the courage to follow Four’s instructions. Having him in the room with you seemed to relieve some of the fear which had paralysed you moments before, but your slow shuffle to the shelves where your clothes and toiletries were still took far longer than it should’ve.  
Once everything was safely cradled in your arms, you chance a glance over to Four, who had his eyes locked on the snake. “Now what?” You hiss, hugging your items close to your chest.

“Hey! Women’s bathroom! You have your own, so use it!” Five screeches, rounding the corner and entering the bathroom.

“Shush!” You and Four growl simultaneously, neither of you looking towards the grumbling Doctor.

“What’s going on here… Oh.”

“Do you know anything much about snakes?” Four asks softly, speaking from the corner of his mouth.

“No, I don’t. Seven does though.” Five offers, her eyebrows creased in concern at how close you were currently stood to the reptile.

“You’re closest to the door, and I don’t think the snake has any interest in you. Can you go try and find Seven for us?”

“Of course.” Five nods, walking backwards, and back outside before racing off to find the man in question.

“How’re you doing Techno?” Four’s voice wavers, though you can tell he’s trying to keep the mood light, and to not frighten you.

You chew on your bottom lip, brows creasing in the middle as you chance a glance across to Four. “I’ll be honest Anakin, I’m fucking terrified….”

He’s trying not to laugh, trust you to continue making jokes in the face of danger. “You’re going to be fine, I promise!”

Before you have the chance to respond, Five returns with a confused looking Seven. “Honestly you two, we already have Wally, we don’t need another pet.” He smirks, and if it weren’t for the fact you were in a staring contest with a snake, you would’ve slapped the man.

“Hardy har, can we stop with the jokes and, I dunno, get rid of the snake maybe?” Four grumbles, folding his arms across his chest.

Seven rolls his eyes, but nods his head yes anyways. “Alright mate, I need you to make as much noise as possible…”

“That sounds like the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do around a snake!” You cut in, earning a chuckle from Seven.

“I know that, but we want the snake away from you, and to do that, we need something to draw its attention.”

“Fine, what happens next? The snake comes for me, and I get attacked? That really doesn’t sound like fun…”

“Yeah, I’d prefer if Four doesn’t get attacked by the snake too… Um, because we need him for the mission…” You stammer out, biting your tongue to prevent from saying anything else which could cause embarrassment.

“Both of you calm down, it won’t have the chance to attack, I’ll catch it before it gets too close. We just need it to start moving, that’s all.”

“Fine, fine… So what, you want me to just start moving around then?”

“When I say go, you’d best start moving as much as possible.”

Four nods his head in understanding, and you feel a newfound sense of panic rising up within you. What if Seven isn’t able to catch it in time? What if Four is bitten? Sure Five is a Doctor, but surely for a snake bite you would need to visit the hospital? “GO!” Your thoughts are cut off by Seven yelling out to Four, and suddenly, the snake no longer has eyes for you.

Four did just as he was told, and while gripping his towel to keep it closed, he marched on the spot, slamming his feet down with as much force as possible, causing vibrations to flow through the floor, and reach the snake. The snake held no interest for you any longer, and made its quick way over to Four, its long body slithering along the steam covered floor.  
The snake moved with such speed you were afraid Seven wouldn’t be able to catch it in time, it was far too close to Four for comfort, and your heart was beating erratically in your chest as it drew ever nearer. “Four, look out!” You cry, causing his eyes to snap up and lock with yours. Your fear was clearly written across your face, there was no use in trying to hide it, everyone in the bathroom could see how you felt, and had clearly heard the terror in your voice.

Seven darts his arm out, gripping the snack just bellow its head, so it would not be able to fang anyone, its long body being raising into the air, wriggling around uselessly. “I’ll get this thing outta here…” Seven mumbles, leaving the bathroom, as Five follows behind him, leaving you and Four, staring at each other.

“I – Uh, thanks… Um, yeah…” You can’t form a full sentence no matter how hard you try, and you’re not sure what was stopping you. Was it the way the mostly naked Four was staring at you so intently, or was it because you had clearly voiced your concern for the man in front of everyone? Both were entirely possible to be blamed.

“Were you worried about me?” His accented voice cuts through the tension, the only sounds in the bathroom those of the running shower, and both of your heavy breathing.

Your hand clasps tighter around your towel, pulling it closer around your chest, while your other hand rubs against your forehead, soothing the frown lines which had settled there. “Um, well… You were worried about me, I thought it was only fair to return the gesture?”

Four blinks at you, his mouthing parting to form a small ‘o’. “Of course I was worried about you.” He steps closer to you, while you remain frozen solid on the spot, your feet cemented to the ground.

“You could’ve been bitten… What if Seven hadn’t been able to catch it? You risked that for me?”

Four swallows hard, his adams apple bobbing as he moves ever closer to you. “I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”

He’s so close now, you can feel his breath fanning across your lips. He steps forward, and you match his move by taking a step backwards. “Why?”

Three more steps, and you’re pressed against the wall, back flat against the rigid metal which was the shipping crate. “I never want to see you get hurt.” Four brings his arms up, pressing his palms against the wall on either side of your head, effectively caging you in.

“I don’t want you to be hurt either…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should say sorry for leaving y'all on a cliff hanger.... But I'm not gonna!  
> Stay tuned for chapter seven!  
> And remember, us authors thrive off of kudos and comments, so feel free to leave one or both? ❤


	7. Sex on the beach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,  
> I'm really sorry it's been so long between updates for this story. I'm a healthcare worker, and during this whole Covid-19 thing, work has gotten quite intense lately, and i haven't had very much free time to write.  
> That being said, I would like to present to you Chapter 7!!!  
> I hope you all enjoy, and please feel free to leave a comment or kudos if you feel so inclined!
> 
> Peace and love ❤❤❤

The scent of Four’s mint toothpaste washes over you, the warmth of his breath caressing your lips. If either one of you were to lean in just slightly, your lips would touch, and heaven knows just how amazing that would feel!  
You can barely keep your eyes open, your lids fluttering on their own accord every few seconds. Slowly, as if he were doing it just to spite you, Four leans in, your already impossibly close lips now a mere hair width apart. It’s happening, he’s going to kiss you surely, you just know it!  
“You’re wasting the hot water.”

You blink your eyes open rapidly, pupils widening in shock at the words Four had just uttered. You had expected something sweet, maybe a term of endearment before the main event, but oh no, why would _anything_ go your way?!  
“I beg your pardon?”

He’s grinning now, that damned infuriating cocky smirk that seems to be reserved solely for you. “I said, you’re wasting the hot water. You’re not the only one who will want a shower today.” He steps back from you, leaving the space he had occupied feeling cold and empty.

You can hear his words echoing around inside your skull but you can’t seem to quite understand them, your brain far too frazzled from the daydream it had conjured up. Soft lips locked with yours, fingers gripping curled blonde locks as your bodies press against the bathroom wall….. “Hot water?” You sound like an idiot, and with the glazed far off look in your eyes, you certainly look the part too.

Four shakes his head, shaggy hair swaying as he does so, his sparkling eyes meeting yours one last time. He knows exactly what he’s doing to you, and he’s loving it. “Have a shower Eight.” He takes a few steps backwards, watching you intently before turning on the spot and marching out of the women’s bathroom.

You feel all the air leave your lungs the moment Four exits, your brain beginning to unscramble itself slowly. “That mother fu- I’ll kill him one day, I’ll bloody do it!” You mutter as you untangle your towel and step into the steady stream of water feeling the now lukewarm spray surround you. He was right though, not that you would admit it, the water was far less warm than it was when you had started, and it was only growing progressively colder.

***** 

“Are you guys actually taking me to a bar, or am I about to be murdered in the desert?” You hiss under your breath, turning a sideways glance to Five as she walked besides you. Ahead of you, bunched together were Four, One and Seven, and just behind you were Two and Three.

“Now why would I answer you truthfully? If we were going to murder you, where would the fun be in having you know the plan?” Five smirks, patting you on the shoulder lightly, her nails scraping against the faded denim jacket you had hoisted on, on your way out of your trailer.

There’s no stopping your eyes rolling, a snort of a laugh breaking the silence which had settled over the ragtag group. Five grins at the sound just as the men ahead of you look behind themselves to see who had made the noise. Your hands fly up to your face, clasping over your mouth and nose, there’s no questioning who had snorted.  
“Real lady like Eight.” One grins, the look only broadening as a blush creeps up your face.

“Fuck you! I’m very dignified I’ll have you know!”

“Well clearly! I mean, with language like that I don’t see how there was ever any doubt?” Four jumps in, his eyes meeting yours instantly. His left hand it balled into a loose fist by his chin, with his thumb resting against his lower lip. The pose only causes your attention to be drawn to his lips once again, and if the gleam in his crystal eyes was anything to go off of, Four knows exactly what he was doing.  
Your mind is back in the bathroom, you can practically feel the steam of the shower surrounding you, and the heat is only slightly less than that of the heat you could feel from his body.

“Hey, to get to the bar you actually need to walk.” Five raises her brows at you, now a fair distance ahead of you, even Three and Two had surpassed you.  
Blinking rapidly, you look behind you to ensure that the couple had in fact walked past you, when had that happened? When had you stopped walking?

“Sorry, I – I actually have no excuse for that…” You shrug, power walking to catch up with Five once again. No one else seemed to have noticed your sudden inability to walk, or at the very least they all had the good grace to not mention it directly to you, which was perfectly fine by you, it meant that the silence which had fallen over the group allowed you time to plot. If this was how Four wanted to play things, then _fine_ , so be it! Two can play at this game.

***** 

The bar was quite literally in the middle of nowhere, and despite the fact that you had driven past it on numerous occasions, you had never known it to be anything other than an old farmhouse. It certainly looked the part, but you had never seen it at night, and the appearance had changed entirely when you finally arrived. It appeared to be a popular spot for truckers to stop for a couple of rounds, before retiring to their trucks for the night, then starting their journey once again come daybreak. A large green neon sign sat in one of the windows, flashing ‘Open’ to any passersby, and you found after staring at the sign for too long you had begun to form a migraine.

“If you’re finished looking around, we can actually go inside.” Four was behind you, standing close enough that you could actually feel him pressed against your back, as his voice whispered against your ear. The gentle breath of his voice was enough to cause your hair to tickle the shell of your ear as he spoke.

You turn on the spot, your resolve growing rapidly by the minute, he’s not the only one who can tease. The look of surprise on his face was almost enough to cause you to grin, but you school your features before he can catch on. Your tongue darts out to wet your lips, and you carefully monitor as Four’s eyes follow the motion intently, his eyes growing dark at the simple movement.  
“I was just about to head in. I’ll see you in there.” You practically purr, making a show of moving just a fraction closer to him, so your chests were pressed together for just the briefest of moments. Moving away you swear your heart is about to leap out of your chest, given it was beating so rapidly. There’s a part of you that considers turning back to look at Four, but you think better of it, and considering you can’t hear him moving yet you can only assume he was struggling to process what had just happened. As if to add insult to injury, you add in just a little extra sway to your walk, your hips moving in an overtly sexual manner.

The interior of the bar was exactly how you would imagine, varying shades of brown bricks lined the walls halfway, meeting with gray corrugated steel before tapering off into chocolate brown skirting boards. The floor matched that of the skirting, but had obvious sun stains from where the hot desert sun had streaked in through the large windows. Sitting against the furthest wall was the bar itself, with shelves upon shelves packed with all assortments of liquor, and surrounding it were dark gray bar stools, with faded maroon cushions. A pool table sat in one corner, with a small congregation of people milling around, some with a pool cue, and others not. Hanging on the wall above the pool table was a decently sized television, which appeared to be airing the top ten touchdowns of the last decade. In the opposite corner was a jukebox which had definitely seen better days, though still managed to play a crackly version of 1985. Small circular wooden tables were scattered around the bar, the chairs surrounding them were similar to those at the bar only the cushions were a navy-blue fabric. Finally, set up along the opposite wall to the bar were multiple booths, made of the same chocolate wood as the floor, and covered in maroon cushions.

Taking up one booth sat the Ghosts, all cramped together like a tin or sardines. On one side sat Two pressed up against the wall with Three beside her, and Seven on the edge. The opposite side had One against the wall, Five in the middle, and space for you to sit beside her.  
“Took you long enough, where have you been?” One smirked, peering at you from over the top of Five’s head.

You shrug lightly, dumping your small purse on the ground and sliding into the seat beside the Doctor. “Just looking around is all, I’ve never been here before remember.” You chew on your lower lip for a moment, opting to keep your next words silent, though it doesn’t stop you from thinking them –‘May never come back either, depending on how the mission goes.’

“Lay off, besides if you’d care to notice, Eight isn’t the only one who’s late to arrive.” Three chuckles, jerking his head towards the blonde who was striding over to your booth. Once stood at the head of the table, you watch carefully as his eyes passed over your group, irises growing dark as they fall and linger on you. You very nearly blush under his intense gaze, but your willpower holds up, and soon enough Four is averting his gaze from your heated one.

“Sorry mate, you’ll have to drag a chair over from another table.” Seven shrugs, drumming his calloused fingers against the sticky tabletop.

Four does as suggested, but not before making his complaints known. “We never used to have to bring extra chairs around, six people fit just fine at one booth.” To the others, Four appeared totally serious in his grumbling, however you knew differently. As he walked over to another table, his shoulders remained slightly slumped, a sure way to know he was feeling comfortable and relaxed, if he were truly put out by the need of grabbing a chair, his entire body would’ve tensed up.

Once Four had situated the chair at the head of the table, two things happen. Thing one, his chair is closer to your side of the booth, and you realise that you only have to move your leg slightly to touch him, and thing two comes in the form of One making an announcement. “Who’s getting the first round then?”

Your eyes grow wide at his words, and they dart around at the others at the table frantically. No one seemed surprised like you, or if they are, they are far better at hiding it. “I – I didn’t bring any money with me….” You whisper to Five, who only smiles softly in response.

She turns her head to whisper her reply against your ear, and in the moment you look to Four, lifting one brow and smirking at the blonde. He can’t keep his eyes off you, and you suddenly realise that perhaps by taking control outside just before, you had turned him on more than initially intended.  
“Oh no, he doesn’t mean it like that. One always pays, we just all take it in turns of going up to the bar to order.”

You breathe an audible sigh of relief, brushing your hair back behind your ear as you do so. “I’ll go, if no one else will offer?” You smirk, already starting to stand from the booth, pressing both palms against the table to push yourself up.

One slides his card across the table, a move that would’ve looked undoubtedly cool if it weren’t for the fact that it got caught on a dried ring of soda on its way across to you. Resulting in Three picking the card up and passing it to you instead. “Does anyone have any orders in particular?”

“You get to order for the table, that’s one of the rules with these final briefing drinks. Whoever goes up to order, gets to decide on what we all drink. At least for that round.” Two smiles, the harsh lines around the corners of her lips softening for a moment. There’s no stopping the grin which slides across your lips, your eyes casting across the people you had begun to call your friends. Finally, they land on Four, who was doing an excellent job of pretending to be engrossed in a conversation with Seven. A plan was forming in your mind, a plan which if all went well, would result in Four doing practically anything for you.

Sliding away from the booth, you pocket One’s card, being sure to brush your arm against Four’s shoulder as you walk by him, heading over to the bar. In the few short minutes you had been sat with the Ghosts, the bar had grown progressively busier, most tables now occupied, and a small crowd gathered around the bar itself.  
You wait patiently for your turn to order, grinning at the woman who serves you. “What can I get ya lovey?” She smiles, deep set lines around her eyes and mouth showing she seemed to have spent a great deal of her life smiling.

You know exactly what to order, and the woman nods her head, brunette ponytail swinging behind her, as she turns to work on your order. When the drinks are finished, she sets them down on a black plastic circular tray. “You guys going to be ordering a lot tonight?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah we’re going to be here for a pretty long time I think.”

“Keep the tray then, just bring it up each time you order so we can use it again for ya.” She grins at you, picking up the card reader from bellow the bar and handing it to you, where you tap One’s card and await the ‘beep’ of approval. “Enjoy sweetie!”

You can’t help but return the woman’s infectious smile, awkwardly picking up the tray and balancing it over both hands. The tray was full with three different sizes of glasses, had you gone slightly overboard with the first round of drinks? Maybe… But to be fair, whenever you would go out with your friends when you were _alive,_ they used to always complain that you ordered boring drinks for the first round. _  
_ Arriving back at the booth, you stand beside Four, bending over to place the tray on the table. Perhaps you were being over the top with your blatant teasing, but when your hip brushes against the side of his torso and you feel his entire body stiffen against you, you know you’re doing the right thing… Or at the very least, the fun thing!

“Fuck yeah! Look at you little Miss life and soul of the party!” Three cheers, clapping his hands together twice as the conversations at the table fall silent, all eyes watching as you distribute the drinks. Seven shots of tequila are passed around, until one rests before everyone, then comes the main event. A glass of Kraken rum and coke for yourself, two glasses of Wild Turkey American Honey on ice each for One and Seven. Corona with lemon for Three and one with lime for Two, and a glass of Malibu on ice for Five. And finally, the piece de resistance, one sex on the beach for Four.

Four stares at the peach coloured cocktail, the slice of orange, and maraschino cherry seeming to mock him from their decorative position. “I- uh… What?”

“Don’t be shy Padme! We all know how much you like peach flavoured things! And besides, you mentioned a while ago that you’d never tried sex on the beach, and well, you’re missing out…” Your voice grew low as you sat back down, and you pay no mind to everyone’s eyes watching you and Four’s interaction.

“I don’t believe cocktails were the topic of that particular conversation…” He whispers, biting down on his lower lip, as his eyes gloss over.

There’s no use in saying anything else, words were pointless at this stage, you had Four exactly where you wanted him. His mind was somewhere far away from the bar, likely somewhere on a beach…  
Once settled back down, you smile to yourself, turning your attention to the others at the table as Four remains silent. “What shall we drink to?”

The others do a good job at pretending they hadn’t witnessed what has transpired between you two, though you were positive Five had some questions for you, though you knew she would pick what would likely be the most inconvenient time to ask them.  
“How about we drink to a good mission? Seems appropriate?” Seven offers, his eyes darting between the dazed Four, and the grinning you.

One nods his agreement as you pass him his card back, his head nodding in thanks as he pockets it. “Sounds like a good reason to drink to me!”

“As if you need a reason.” Three smirks, quirking his brows.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Children please, this is a public place. One of the few public places in the area we are still welcome in might I add. If you want to fight, save it for when we get back home. But just so you are both aware, I refuse to patch either of you up if you hurt yourselves!” Five warns, her deep brown eyes cast in a firm, almost maternal glare.

Both men stop their bickering, looking like scorned children. “So, to a successful mission then?” Two pipes up, raising her shot glass into the air.

Five other glasses rise into the air, all eyes turning to Four, who had not yet raised his glass. “Psst, Skywalker, we’re making a toast.” You mock whisper.  
The blonde blinks rapidly, shadowed eyes meetings yours as he reaches for his shot, before raising it up.

“Let us drink to a successful mission. Eight, I _know_ we’ll get the Lushnick’s, I promise you we will!” Two nods, a half smile tugging the corner of her lips.

“To killing the Lushnick’s!” You chime in, keeping your voice low enough so only your group could hear you.

“To killing the Lushnick’s!” Six voices echo, before you all down your tequila shots.

*****

From the first round onwards, the joke of buying Four a sex on the beach had stuck, the only time he was allowed to drink anything different was when it was his turn to order, and he had returned with an Evan Williams over ice.  
It was adorable to see what he returned with for you, it was almost as if he was trying to get back at you by placing a fruit tingle on the table. The lilac and blue cocktail a stark contrast to the various glasses of whiskey which sat before the other Ghosts. “Oh Four! How did you know?” You cooed, batting your lashes up at him.

“Know what?” His lips were parted in a perfect ‘o’, and the look of confusion on his features was to die for.

“That I love fruit tingles!” You lean forward, creeping your hand across the table so you could rest it over the top of his knuckles, clasping your fingers around his for a few seconds. “In fact, if it weren’t for a fruit tingle, I never would’ve gotten laid… Hmmm, James, now he was something special.”

Just as quickly as you had placed it there, you pull your hand away from Four, before anyone else at the table could notice. At this point however, you would hardly care if someone did mention your actions, they were having the desired effect on Four, and that was all that mattered.  
Four had barely been able to sit still from the moment you had first returned with the drinks, he would squirm in his seat, and flush whenever he caught your eyes lingering on him for longer than would usually be considered appropriate.

One returned with a new round of drinks a short while later, once again depositing the same cocktail before Four, who no longer wore a look of disgruntlement when he looked at the peach drink. In fact, he went straight for the straw, taking a deep drink immediately.  
A small smirk quirks your lips as you watch him, and beneath the table you rub your foot against his ankle, kicking your shoe off awkwardly to achieve a small amount of skin to skin contact.  
“So tell us Eight, how exactly did One find you?” Three asks, clasping his fingers together, and locking them under his chin.

Your eyes drag away from Four, casting across the table before finally settling on One, a wicked grin tugging at your lips. “Oh, I was robbing One’s bank account for a while. So basically, he hired me so I would stop stealing from him.” You shrug.

There’s an eerie silence which befalls the table, suddenly all eyes are focused on you with a great deal of interest.  
“Hold up, that was _you_ who was draining his account?” Two gasps, her eyes shining bright with glee.

“Heh, yeah, it was! So now instead of stealing his money, he pays me to be here.”

“Eight, you’re my fucking hero!” Five squeals, wrapping one arm around you in a side hug.

“What? Why?” There’s no hiding the look of confusion which crosses you features at Five’s outburst.

Seven, as always was the voice of reason, his soothing voice carrying over the laughter which was chorusing over the table. “Do you have any idea how confused and upset One was? The entire time you were taking his money, he would write up on the board in the briefing room his bank balance each week. At first, it was only going down by a little bit, but then I guess you got a little too bold, because the next thing we know, One’s going around accusing us all of having stolen his card and buying useless shit!”

Now it’s your turn to laugh, bowing your head and resting your chin against the table. “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again! In my defence, technically One’s dead! I didn’t think a dead man would miss his money!”

“Well this dead man, _really_ missed his money.” One grins affectionately at you.

“So, you’re part of the team now so One can more or less babysit you, and stop you from taking any more money from him, is that right?” Three chuckles.

Your shoulders shrug half heartedly, as you slowly pick yourself up from the table. “I suppose so, not that that will necessarily stop me however.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” One cries, sloshing the amber liquid in his glass as he places it back on the table with too much force.

Beneath the table, you drag your foot further up Four’s leg, your toes brushing against his calf as you go up. “Never you mind. What I spend your money on without your permission is between me and my online shopping.”

As the conversation returns around you, you focus back on Four. Perhaps it was the copious amounts of alcohol you had consumed which made you so bold, though you would never be positive.  
“Do you wanna see a neat trick?”

Four’s brows crease in the middle, and he tilts his head to the side. “What are you on about?”

“You heard me! Do. You. Want. To. See. A. Trick?” You repeat, punctuating each word with your foot climbing ever further up his leg, now resting against his thigh.

You watch him gulp, his adams apple bobbing as he once again stirs in his seat. There was a blush creeping steadily further up his neck, it had started somewhere beneath his collar, and was now nearing his chin. “Sure, what’ve you got for me love?”  
You can see him desperately trying to regain control over this situation, but nothing was working for him, he was entirely at your mercy.

Reaching forwards, you pluck the cherry out of his glass, popping the entire thing in your mouth, stem and all. You make quick work of eating the actual cherry, before working your tongue around the deep red stem.  
Four can’t keep his eyes off your mouth, that is until….  
You slide down your seat until you are able to reach new areas with your foot. It’s a risky move, at any moment someone either at your table, or another patron of the bar could clock on to what you were doing. But you were feeling bold, and so far, Four hadn’t voiced any complaints.  
Your foot creeps higher, until your toes press gently against the bulge in his trousers, an audible groan slipping from his lips. You had never done anything like this before, and you were honestly not sure what you were supposed to do next. However, with your little trick now complete, that at least brought you some time.

Slowly, you open your mouth, pressing your tongue out slightly and presenting a carefully knotted cherry stem. This time, Four’s gasp is loud enough for the entire table to hear. “Ungh….”  
The knotted stem along with the gentle caress of your foot, was enough to have Four about ready to jump the table to kiss you.

“You alright there mate?” Seven asks, a genuine look of worry crossing his features. While Five simply turns to you, a knowing look dancing through her eyes.

“Ugh, yeah. I’m fine.” Four stammers out, raising a hand to brush through his hair.

Seven nods his head, though he doesn’t look entirely convinced by Four’s strained answer. Beneath the table, Four creeps his hand down to his lap, carefully wrapping his fingers around your ankle, and helping to guide your foot. He was doing little to lessen the ever growing bulge, but he was certainly bringing himself closer to release, which was all he could really think about now.

“Oh god, this is a bit of a depressing song don’t you think?” Two sighs as cat’s in the cradle auto plays on the jukebox

“I wouldn’t go that far. Sure it’s kinda sad, but it’s pretty good…” You shrug, allowing Four to use your foot as he saw fit bellow the tabletop.

“I’m with Eight on this one, it’s a classic.” Four agrees, though his voice is strained, and there’s a guttural quality to it.

“Thank you, see great minds think alike!” You giggle, your breath hitching in your throat as Four brushes his finger along the arch of your foot.

“Great minds, or young minds?” Three smirks across at One, who both chuckle.

Five folds her arms across her chest, watching you and Four intently, before turning her gaze to One, Two and Three. Seven remained team Switzerland, though Five would settle this once and for all. “It truly is an excellent song! Come on, this is the best part too!”

All eyes are suddenly on Five, who had closed her eyes and was swaying along to the song. “And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon-”

You bite down on your lip, slowly sliding your foot out of Four’s lap and back do the floor. “Little boy blue and the man in the moon-” You join in with her.

Four shakes his head, whether it was in disappointment to the sudden lack of your contact, or the fact that all roads in his life had lead him up to this point, you would never know. He lifts one eyebrow, cocking his head to the left as he regards Seven with a half grin. “When you coming home Dad, I don’t know when-” Both men chorus in with you and Five, the four of you grinning broadly at each other.

With a defeated sigh, One, Two and Three finally give in, joining with you all for the end of the chorus. “But we’ll get together then. Yeah, you know we’ll have a good time then…”

There was something bitter sweet about singing all together, the niggling thought of what tomorrow would bring slowly worked its way to the forefront of your brain.  
Tomorrow you would have your final briefing, and then, it would be into the lions den for all of you. For all you know, you could be about to send everyone into a suicide mission.  
But for now, for now there was happiness, there was signing, and if the look in Four’s eyes had anything to say, there was also lust.

There was an odd silence which fell over the group now, almost as if no one quite knew where to go next, or how to continue on from what had just happened.  
Ever the lady, you stand abruptly from your seat, stripping off your denim jacket, and folding it onto your seat.  
“I’ll be back!” You declare too loudly, shuffling away from the table and making your way through the bar.

“Is Eight only wearing one shoe?” Seven queries, frowning at your lopsided walk across the bar.

Five peers under the table, spotting your other shoe by your purse. “She sure is!”

“I’m going to get some air, I’ll be back.” Four mumbles, pushing away from the table himself, before following the same path as you a few minutes later.

Behind the bar was a door which lead to a corridor, one you hadn’t notice on your first inspection of the building. Inside stood four doors, two for the male and female bathrooms respectively, one for the cleaner’s cupboard, and another leading to apparently nowhere, at least that was your assumption, given the lack of signage.  
You make your way into the bathroom, taking a few minutes to check yourself over in the mirror above the sinks. Your hair and makeup had remained relatively pristine, though there was a wild look in your eyes, one you hadn’t seen there before.  
Shaking your head twice, you finish off in the bathroom, before stepping out into the corridor once again. You can’t help yourself; the idea of an unmarked door was just too good of an opportunity to pass up, you simply had to find out what was behind there.

Reaching out, you pull the door open, and suddenly you’re met with a gust of cool night air, the smell of rain filling the air around you. The sky however was perfectly clear, void of any clouds, and instead, covered in a blanket of sparkling stars.  
Mixed with the scent of rain, was something you hadn’t smelt since you had ‘died’, the smell of cigarette smoke.  
Casting your gaze around at the few outdoor tables and chairs, you spot a lone figure, the puff of smoke coming from them.  
Stepping closer, you easily spot who it was, even in the dull light of the moon his blonde curls were easily recognisable.  
“Oh, how ironic. Behind door four is Four!” You laugh way too loud, especially for how terrible the pun was. But in your drunken state, to you it was the funniest thing anyone had ever said!

Four turns to look over his shoulder, a broad grin slipping across his lips as he plucks the cigarette from between them, exhaling a deep puff of smoke. “You’re missing the party inside. I think one more round of shots, and we’ll be able to convince Three to perform karaoke.

Shaking your head no, you strut over to Four, the same hip swaying you had done on the way into the bar earlier, now far less sexy, a lot more drunk. However, you made it to your destination none the less.  
“I think I like the party out here better.” You purr against his ear, straddling his lap as you feel Four’s hands automatically come up to rest against your waist.

Immediately, you can feel what little control he had over himself come crumbling down. His cock is pressed against the front of his trousers once more, and you grin to yourself as you make a point of circling your hips against him gently.  
The groan that slips from his throat is entirely pornographic, and it leaves you aching for more. “Ei-Eight…”

“Yes Four?” You giggle, circling your hips twice slowly, and once firm causing the blondes eyes to roll back in their sockets, and his head to tilt backward.

Leaning forward, you trail your tongue along his exposed throat, using the tip to follow every line carefully, until you reach his chin. “Should I go further?” You whisper, your breath fanning across his lips, just as his had back in the bathroom.  
The bathroom, the snake… It all felt like such a long time ago now, though it had only been hours, and not the weeks it felt like.

“God yes… Don’t stop. Please, keep going.” Four whines, his lips parting into a pout, as you press your palms against his chest, fingers clutching into the fabric of his shirt.

A wicked smirk overtakes your features, and ever so slowly you pull away, using your grip on Four’s shirt to pull him up with you. “You know, I don’t think I will actually…”  
With that, you carefully peel yourself off his lap, straightening yourself up, and taking a few steps away from the panting man. “You should take a few minutes to cool down before you join us inside again.” You giggle, before turning on your heel and flouncing back inside the bar.

*****

“Why do we always insist on walking?” Five whines from the back of the group, dragging her feet through the dust as she walks.

“Well how else are we s’posed to get home? UBER doesn’t service this far out.” Two mutters, her fingers locked with Three’s as they walk at a slow pace. No one would dare say anything about their blatant display if their relationship, the only person who would was One, but he was far too drunk to even notice.

“Well _somebody_ could drive next time!” Five suggests, her voice growing less powerful and drowsier by the second.

You look over your shoulder to the Doctor who was only a small ways behind you. “And who do you suggest stays sober to drive? Surely not you, Miss watch me do eight shots of vodka in a row!”

“Well obviously not me! How about Four? He could drive!”

Four, who had been awfully quiet since your little encounter outside, turned to look back at Five, his lips quirking as if to respond, before thinking better of it. Instead, he turned to face the front once more, picking up his pace so to arrive at base faster.

After another ten or so minutes of trudging, you a eventually make it back to base in one piece, though your aching ad blistered feet beg to differ.  
“Good night everyone!” Five calls out, as she hangs out of her trailer door, with one foot planted on the stairs and the other on the ground.

“Go to bed you looney!” Seven grins, waving goodbye to her.

“Sweet dreams Five.” You smile, blowing her a kiss, to which she pretends to catch.

After that, Five closes the door behind her, the lights in her trailer all turning off almost immediately. Next, Two follows Three into his trailer, neither being subtle about what was about to happen in the slightest.  
One stumbles into his own trailer, just as Four and Seven do the same, leaving you to find your own.

Once safely inside, you strip off your jacket and shirt, shuffling around your drawers in search of some fresh pyjamas. The door to your trailer remained open, allowing the pleasant night air to clear out the musty old air which had accumulated there.  
Just as you find a night shirt, you hear a voice clear behind you.

Whirling around on the spot, your hands instantly ball into fists ready to strike, only lowering to your sides when you see Four standing by your mini bar fridge.  
“If you thought you would tease me like that _all_ night, and _not_ have this coming…. Oh baby, you’ve got another thing coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this, ANOTHER cliffhanger?  
> I'm not even going to say sorry this time, what's done is done...  
> However, I think you all know where we'll be headed with chapter eight. (She's gonna be smutty!)


	8. There's a fine line between pleasure and punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pure smut, if you are under the age of 18, please skip this chapter and wait for chapter nine!  
> There is literally no plot here, if you're looking for plot, please come back next chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the long wait for this chapter, I had it mostly written, and then I decided to read through it. Hated what I had written, promptly deleted it all, then rewrote it this weekend.  
> As hinted at in the previous chapter, we've got smut, I know know... FINALLY!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!  
> Peace and Love my dudes ❤❤❤

Your fists slowly relax at your sides as you breathe deeply, regarding Four with a raised eyebrow. This was awfully bold of him, to walk right into your trailer, _unarmed_ , and make threats. Though then again, you had been feeling bold all evening, and had gone far further in the few hours you had been out.  
In the next few seconds, you make a series of mistakes.  
Mistakes one and two occur consecutively.  
“Why Four, I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You smile, allowing the most innocent expression you could muster to cross your features. Biting down on your lower lip, you turn on your heel, spinning around and moving away from Four, balling the night shirt you held, into your fists.

One thing you had learned early on with the Ghosts was to never, under _any_ circumstances, ever turn your back on your opponent. Of course, to you Four wasn’t an opponent, at least not in this scenario. He however, saw this as a challenge.  
Large, warm hands appear on your shoulders, calloused fingers gripping into your bare flesh. Oh how you wish you had kept your shirt on, and weren’t currently parading around in a bra.  
“How many times do I have to say this. Do _not_ act dumb with me.” He growls against your ear, the scent of alcohol flowing around you.

You shudder under his words, and you know he can feel the way you shake like a leaf in his arms. “You could’ve had me at _any_ stage while I’ve been here. Why now?” You whisper, as Four tugs you closer to him, your bodies barely an inch or two apart. “Is it because you like the way I challenged you tonight?” Your heart is pounding in your chest, but you refuse to let that deter you. “Do you like the way I go for things I want? And that I don’t just roll over an obey?”  
And now comes mistake number three, making assumptions. “Or is it because you’re used to taking what you want from women. And not having them tease you the way I do?”

Three strikes and you’re out.  
Four’s grip on your shoulders tightens for a moment, before he spins you around to face him, standing chest to chest now. His face his flushed, either from the alcohol, or the blatant sexual tension in the air, or perhaps both. He shakes his head no, the desire to fight dancing behind his sparkling ocean eyes, like a fire burning within. “It wasn’t the right time. You know that.”

You gaze up at him, your eyes meeting his in an act of defiance. Both hands resting on your hips now, one still clutching your bunched-up shirt, which you were positive you would eventually get around to wearing. “Now that, I can agree with. Though I don’t know if now is the right time either.”

“You’re trying to tell me, that you teased me all night long, practically drooled over me outside of the bar, and played a rather adult version of footsies under the table, only to say that _now isn’t_ the right time?

You blink slowly, allowing his words to sink in. Four was right, you had done all of those things. And my God would you do them again, and again and _again,_ if it meant you coming back to where you both were right this very second. Four smooths his hands over your shoulders, his fingers no longer gripping so tightly. “What are you thinking?” He whispers, leaning closer so his lips brush against the corner of yours for the briefest of moments. He’s gentle now, and the fire in his eyes has melted away, almost as if a switch inside his brained at been flipped.

Your breath stutters in your throat, and your mind goes blank. What _were_ you thinking? Were you even capable of rational thoughts anymore?  
“Are we just doing this because of what tomorrow, and the next few days may hold?”

At this, Four drops his hands away from you, stepping back as if having been burned. A crease appears between his brows from where he frowns at you. His chest is heaving now, but not in the way you wish it would. He genuinely looks frightened of your words. “Are you afraid?”

“Why does everyone always ask me that?” He sighs, walking backwards until his back hits the trailer door, pinning it to the wall so it would stop swaying in the gentle breeze.

You raise your free hand up to your scalp, brushing your fingers through your hair. “I didn’t know others had already asked, I’m sorry. I just – I know that I’m absolutely terrified. And – And I don’t want to do something that we may regret if we survive this.” You walk closer to Four, taking slow and timid steps. The shirt remains clutched in your hands, almost as if it had become your lifeline. It felt as if the thin fabric was all that was keeping you grounded right now.

Once you’re within range, Four lifts his hand, cupping your cheek against his wide palm. You lean against his warmth, allowing your eyes to flutter closed for a moment. “There’s no _if_ , we’re all gonna live. No questions asked, seven of us go in, seven come out.”

“That’s easy to say now, but the mission… I’m pretty sure I’ve set us up to fail. I should’ve just let One have his way and conduct the mission.”

“Don’t say that! Do you have any idea how much faith I have in you? Hell, don’t tell him I said this. But I even have faith in One!” His thumb circles against your cheek, and you allow a gentle sigh to slip from your parted lips. “Everyone is going to be fine. I promise.”

It’s a stupid thing to promise, you know that. How could you not?  
There was no way Four could possibly assure you, or anyone that you would all live. You were likely about to send everyone off to their deaths.  
But hearing him tell you, _promise_ you, that it would all be fine. You could hardly _not_ believe him. Just the idea of you all walking out of the hospital Dr Lushnick worked in, all seven of you alive, unharmed, with the Doctor’s corpse stuffed away in a cleaning closet, it truly was all you could hope for….  
“I need you. I think I’ve needed you from the moment I got here, I just didn’t know it.” You whisper, slowly blinking your eyes open, meeting Four’s which were already trained on you.

He lifts his other hand, slowly bringing it to rest against your opposite cheek, guiding your head up gently. “Even though I was a jerk for the first few weeks of knowing you?” He whispers, though you can make out the lilt of humour in his tone.

You roll your eyes, a half smile slipping over your lips. The lipstick you had swiped on earlier this evening now mostly worn off, and likely staining numerous glasses back at the bar. “Would you think any less of me, if I told you that when you were being a jerk, it only made me want you more?”

A cocky grin slithers across Four’s mouth, his sparkling eyes shinning with glee at your admission. “Oh shut up..” You grumble, though it’s a half-hearted complaint.

“I didn’t say anything yet!” He throws back in defence, though the grin remains unmoved.

“And I intend to keep it that way.” Your voice is barely above a whisper, as you press your body flush against his. Four’s palms remained cupped against your cheeks as you stand chest to chest. Slowly, you trail one hand up, snaking around until you rest against the nape of his neck, pulling his head closer to yours with a gentle tug. Your fingers twirling in the slightly longer hair  
He knows what’s coming, there’s no way he couldn’t.  
You pause for a moment, almost as if you were expecting him to pull away, or to ask you to stop or slow down. But that never comes. Of course it doesn’t. He wants this as much as you do, that much is obvious.  
You’re inches apart now, and his half lidded eyes are locked on yours, watching your every move intently. He doesn’t want to rush you, doesn’t want to spook you by acting too quickly.

The few seconds it takes for you to close the gap between you both, feels like hours. Though the moment your lips collide, it feels as if the weight of the world has been lifted from your shoulders. The worry and stress you felt over the impending mission simply melts away, fading to the back of your mind for another time.  
Your lips meld together as one, moving in near perfect sync as you work to find a comfortable rhythm. His nose bumps against yours lightly, as teeth knock teeth, nothing unusual for a first kiss. The warmth of his body, pressed to yours allows you to practically melt into him, the subconscious desire to be as near to him as possible, causing you to lean almost your entire weight against him. Four drags one hand away from your cheek, trailing his fingers languidly down the side of your neck, causing goose bumps to pebble the flesh on your forearms. Slowly, he lowers his hand, his knuckles brushing the side of your breast now, through the fabric of your bra. Your breath hitches in your throat, and you pull your lips apart, blinking up at him in surprise. “I’m sorry. Too fast?” He murmurs, nudging his nose against yours gently, as if asking permission to continue both the kiss, and his hands descend.

You shake your head no, sliding your own hand further up his neck, dragging your nails against his scalp lightly. “No. Please don’t stop.” You whisper, pressing a gentle kiss to the corner of his lips.

You don’t need to ask Four twice, before he has his lips back on yours, bruising your lips in a crushing kiss. His hand, which had remained stationed against your breast, slithers further down your torso, his index finger and thumb dancing along the side of your stomach, all the way down to the waist of your jeans. He hooks his index finger inside your jeans, drawing a circle against your waist as he glides his hand around to your bottom. Once there, his slips his entire hand down the back of your pants, his large, warm hand cupping against your ass cheek, his calloused fingers giving you a gentle squeeze, almost teasingly so. A small squeak of surprise presses from your lips, which Four uses to his advantage, slipping his tongue past your parted lips, and circling against yours.

The gentle breeze which you had left your trailer door open for, had now turned cold, and despite the warmth you were feeling from Four, it wasn’t quite enough to keep away the chill. As if reading your mind, Four takes a careful step, never allowing his hands to fall away from you, his leg moving between yours as you slowly shuffle backwards. Using one foot, he kicks behind himself, the door shutting with far more force than necessary, though neither of you could possibly care.  
With the door now securely closed, and the two of you stood in the middle of your trailer, you carefully pull apart, both attempting to catch your breath. Your brain is foggy, and all thoughts outside of kissing Four have long since departed. One thought however, does succeed it clawing its way back through the haze. “I’m still holding my shirt…” It sounds weak, and also like the most absurd thing one could possibly say.

At this, Four looks down to your hand, which during this entire time, had remained at your side. “Yes, yes you are.” He whispers, holding back the laugh which threatens to spill out.

“I completely forgot. You – You made me forget about my shirt.”

The hand which had been gently kneading your ass, slips out of your pants, falling down to your side where your arm hung limp, your fingers clutching at the bundled shirt. “Here, let me take that.” He whispers, carefully tugging the material out of your grip. Your fingers release, and Four takes the shirt away, balling it up and tossing it to the ground by his feet. “I promise I’ll fold that in the morning.”

“Oh who gives a fuck? Come here!” You practically growl, a new found sense of desire burning deeply within you.

For months now, you had been dancing around each other, but not any longer. All of that would change tonight, and you wanted – no needed- it to change immediately.  
With both hands now free, you use them to grip the hem of Four’s shirt, tugging him closer to you. His hand on your cheek slips away, falling to your lower back where he cradles you against him. Your desire was building, as a heat begins to pool between your legs. “Christ, I want you…”

Four trails both hands around until they rest on your hips, allowing his fingers to dig in just enough to cause the slightest amount of pain. “And what do you want with me?” He growls, leaning forward and whispering against your ear.

All courage you had before evaporates under his sudden change in tone, and you find yourself suddenly, entirely at his mercy. “I don’t know. I just, I need you Four.”

He bites his lower lip, all traces of romance which had once been hinted at within his eyes, now replaced with a burning desire. He wants you just as badly, though he knows how to take control, unlike you. “You’ll let me take whatever I want?” It’s hardly a question, but with the way he digs his fingers deeper into your hips, you know exactly what to say either way.

“Yes, oh God yes.” You whine, slipping your hands away from his shirt, and pressing them against his stomach.

That damned cocky smirk is back, and my goodness is it doing things to you that it didn’t do before. With his mouth at your ear he gently bites your earlobe, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to cause a slight sting. “On the bed. Now.” His voice is low and strained, and fucking hell is it turning you on right now.

Without a second thought, you scurry over to your bed, sitting at the head, with your back against the pillows. Your eyes are locked on Four as he smirks at you, taking slowly, calculated steps towards you. There was the slightest bulge tenting his pants, and you couldn’t help but wonder what potential lay beneath the fabric. “Pants off.” He orders, eyes locked with yours, as he rips his shirt off over his head, discarding it somewhere near the minifridge.

Your hands make quick work of button and fly on your jeans, and you scoot further down the bed so you’re half laying against the pillows now, raising your hips towards the ceiling, you shimmy your pants down your thighs, before collapsing back to the bed, and kicking the jeans away from your ankles.  
Four had the button on his pants undone, and was in the process of removing them entirely, when a new thought appeared to have overtaken him.  
Just as you begin moving back up the bed to sit again, he pounces on you, kneeling over one of your legs, and pressing his hands into the pillows above your shoulders, effectively caging you in. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Nowhere?”

Four leans down, pressing his lips to yours once again, biting your bottom lip playfully in a show of dominance. He pulls away much too quickly for your liking, and you find yourself lowering your head back to the pillows, after having chased his retreating lips. “Do you feel that? That heat inside you? Boiling in your blood like a fever?” All you can do is nod your affirmation, unable to trust your voice at this point in time. “I’m going to make you feel so _good_ baby.”

His eyes have grown dark, lust evident in his features as he towers over you. Your knee bends slightly beneath his legs, and he takes this opportunity to grind his cocks against you, chasing the high which he knew he was about to give you. He groans as the tent in his pants grows more prominent, his cock straining against the strict confides of his clothing, but now wasn’t the time to undress fully. At least not for him.  
After all the demands he had made, you scarcely believe Four would pause to ask your permission for things at this point, yet he surprises you by doing just that! “I’m going to take these off, and then this, okay? If- If this is too much, or too fast, you gotta let me know luv.” He gestures, first to your panties, and then to your bra.

“It’s fine Four, I trust you.” You breathe, relaxing into the mountain of decorative pillows behind you. Four pushes himself up so he kneels above you, no longer blocking you in with his arms, not that you had any intentions of going anywhere with your new found freedom.  
Carefully, he slides his hands down your sides, his fingers tickling against the exposed flesh of your stomach once again. He reaches his end goal much faster this time however, and quickly has his index and middle fingers hooked into the waist band of your black panties. In one quick, fluid motion, he’s stripped your panties away, leaving your sex exposed both to him, and the cold chill in your trailer. There’s not escaping your gasp, as the first wave of cool air blows against your heated cunt, the contrast of warm to cold exceptionally pleasant.  
Next, Four rests his index finger over your bellybutton, drawing gentle circles around it, before slowly working his way up your torso, moving all the way up until he reaches your chest, though he doesn’t stop there, and continues on to your neck then chin, circling under your chin teasingly for a few seconds. “Don’t be such a tease…” You pout, which only causes Four to smirk down at you.

“Oh, so you don’t like the taste of your own medicine then?” He purrs, sliding his fingers back down your neck, and resting on the piece of fabric between your bra cups.

“No I don’t.” Your pout is stronger than ever, though it soon disappears behind a blissful smile once Four leans down, brushing his lips across yours.

As he leans back up, he catches your eye. “You had better learn to behave, or we won’t be doing this again.” He warns, and you’re about to ask what exactly it _is_ that you won’t be doing again, seeing as he seems to be taking his sweet time getting anywhere. But you’re stopped, by his hands drifting around to your back, fingers fumbling with the hooks of your bra. He was hardly a novice at removing such garments, however each time he tried to unhook a bra blind, he always seemed to encounter a clasp he had never worked with before.  
Three attempts it takes, before you feel Four peel your bra away, sliding the straps off your shoulders and down your arms. Under the cool air, your nipples pebble erect, and the gentle ghost of Four’s breath washing over you, causes the ache burning within, to grow in intensity. You arch your back, chasing the feeling of his warmth, though Four pulls away, grinning down at you. “So needy, and so impatient. Whatever shall I do with you?” He tuts, kneeling over your left leg, returning his hands to their caging position from before. “Punishment? Or Pleasure?”

Four pulls away his right arms, and lowers it down to your exposed sex, ghosting his knuckles across your sensitive flesh. “I think perhaps both…” His eyes hold a wicked gleam, and you’re almost afraid of what he has instore for you.

His hand reaches further for you, extending his index finger until the calloused tip brushes against your clit. You moan at the sheer contact, the barest of touches almost able to push you over the edge in your touch starved state. He looks up, lifting a brow in surprise to your reaction, if anything a moan from barely a touch only helped to boost his ego.  
Slowly, he circles his finger against your throbbing clit, changing tempo every minute or so, just to keep you on your toes. His movements are almost gliding now, and you know that is because of you, and of how wet you are. You’re thankful to not still be wearing your panties at this point, as if you were, the would be absolutely drenched.  
Four stops suddenly, and you have to physically restrain yourself from crying out in a whimper, by lifting your hand to your mouth, and biting down.  
The loss of contact doesn’t last long, and soon, you find yourself flying on a while new high. His index finger is probing against your cunt, circling once, twice, three times before slipping inside, just as his thumb moves to your overstimulated bundle of nerves, returning to his fast then slow tempo.  
His finger brushes against you, stroking the velvety walls as he seeks his goal. His finger can go no further, and he begins curling inside you, almost as if beckoning you towards him.

The moans which emit from you are positively obscene, and they only act to urge Four on further. Your back arches up off the bed, then collapses back down, as you almost physically chase the release you’re so desperate for. Your chest is heaving, as you struggle to catch your breath, your entire world feeling as if it were floating around you. Sweat glistens along your body, your forehead and chest shining beneath the soft moonlight which trickles through your window.

Four’s thumb has been working at one solid tempo for a few minutes now, and it’s almost as if he knows that it’s driving you wild. The moment you feel as if you’re about to taste some of that sweet, sweet release, he stops circling all together, grinning to himself. You’re about to protest, when he slips a second finger deep within you, both fingers now curling against you G-spot in the most tantalising of ways.  
“Holy shit. Four, oh God…” Your voice is hoarse, but you could hardly care right now. All you can think about it your impending orgasm, and how delicious that wave of absolute pleasure will feel.

“Are you close Eight? Hm, are you getting close?” He whispers, leaning down against your ear, darting his tongue out to curl around the shell of your ear.  
With both fingers picking up pace within you, he returns his thumb to your clit, this time however, there is no warmup. No slow circling leading to the grand finale, oh no, he’s headed straight for the encore now. His thumb circles and flicks with such speed, you almost see stars. He wants you on the edge, he needs you begging his name, and you’re damned near doing just that.

He knows your close, if the way your walls are beginning to clamp around his fingers are anything to go by, then he knows he only has a few minutes left. With a cheeky smirk, he gently presses in his ring finger, the slight burn of the stretch sending a deep shiver of pleasure straight to your core. He barely had his ring finger half way in when you cry out. “Fucking hell! Christ four I’m gonna….”  
And just like that, he slips his hand away from your sex, leaving you aimlessly chasing the bliss you had felt the tendrils of curl around you mere seconds before.

“You’re gonna what?” Four whispers, lifting one brow as he gazes down at you. You were an absolute mess, your hair tangled, and strewn across the pillows. Your skin flushed, and chest heaving under your exertions.

“What- what the actual fuck?” You gasp out, propping yourself up on your forearms, and glaring at the smirking blonde.

Four simply shrugs, pushing away from you, and falling back onto the bed in a seated kneel. “I did warn you, we’d be going for both pleasure _and_ punishment.” He smirks, bringing his right hand to his mouth, and slowly popping each of his fingers past his lips, sucking your juices clean.  
It was obvious how much his teasing you had turned him on, his cock was pressing hard against his pants, creating a rather impressive tent which you were sure would be somewhat uncomfortable by now.

In a moment of boldness, you leap from the pillows and spring forwards, kneeling in front of a rather startled Four. Just as he’s about to lick clean his index finger, you wrap both of your hands around his, pulling his arm towards you.  
It was something you never thought you would do, yet here you were….  
Your tongue darts out, wrapping around his finger in a positively pornographic manner, coiling around the ling digit like a cobra. Slowly, you lower your head down, parting your lips and enveloping his finger within your mouth, tasting your own sweet, salty juices on his skin. You keep your eyes locked on his, even when his grow dark and hooded, you never blink, never look away. With a loud _‘Pop’_ your lips slip over the tip of his finger, and you release his hand, which drops to the mattress below.

Four groans deeply, and without a question asked, he leaps from the bed, shimmying his pants down his legs, and kicking them away from his ankles. Next, he digs his thumbs into the waist band of his boxer briefs. “Whoa, slow down! I wanna actually see what I’m working with here…” You grin, licking your lips as your eyes follow his every move.

“Worried I won’t live up to your expectations?” He meant to sound cocky, and self-assured. But the slight rise in his voice makes him sound more concerned than anything.

You tilt your head to the side, biting your bottom lip gently. “I doubt that would be a worry, considering the size of what I’m seeing now.”

Four takes a deep breath, before slowly bending over, as he rolls his boxer briefs down his muscular thighs. Further down he goes, until you can’t see anything but the crown of his blond head, and the scarred expanse of pale flesh of his back. After a moment’s hesitation, his stands up fully. His thick cock springing erect, already leaking a small amount of precum from the tip.  
You bite down harder on your lip by accident at the sheer sight of him, his size and girth were what every woman dreamed of. And here he was, all yours, at least for the night. Four genuinely looked to have been sculpted by the gods. Blue eyes like the sea, which could change colour in the sun, perfectly smooth skin, blonde curls which seemed to look good no matter what, muscles and abs which you had only ever dreamed of seeing on a real person, and a cock which had you almost drooling at the sight of it.  
“Get over here.” You whisper, your words choking in your throat out of pure exhilaration.

He doesn’t need to be told twice. Four settles back onto the bed in front of you, returning to an almost identical position as you had both been in before he got up. “What do you want?” He asks kindly, bringing one hand up, and running his fingers through your hair gently.

“I want you. All of you.” You whisper, pulling yourself up to height on your knees, and crawling towards him. “And just like you. I get what I want.” The fire is back, dancing behind your eyes and his. He’s had his fun, but now it’s your turn, and somehow deep within, he knows you don’t plan on teasing him anymore. Not for tonight at the very least.

Your hands rest against his chest, your warm fingers sending jolts of electricity through him, and straight to his already aching cock. There’s no power play here, Four is happy to relinquish dominance to you, and you’re more than willing to take it.  
With a gentle shove, Four falls to his back, his legs slipping out from beneath him, and bending at the knee slightly, keeping his feet planted firmly against the mattress. He knows what’s coming, and knows what the best position to be in to make you both comfortable is.  
You crawl over to his side, lifting one leg up and over his waist so you’re straddling his hips. In a moment of clarity, you lean forwards, your chest pressing against his as you rummage around in the small space beneath your mattress and the bedframe. “Aha!” You declare triumphantly, pushing back up, holding a square piece of foil in your hand.

“Do you keep a stash of those beneath your bed for moments like this?” Four smirks, bringing one hand up to rest over you ass, giving the supple flesh there a squeeze.

“Well, I don’t see you having come prepared.” You counter, tearing the corner of the wrapper off with your teeth. “Want me to do it for you?” You whisper, you meant it to be teasing, but it comes out as an honest question instead.

“Oh God yes.” He sighs, watching your expert fingers and they nimbly roll the condom over the tip of his hard cock, and all the way down his length. “There’s something very erotic about watching someone else do that.” You mumbles, drawing rough circles against your ass with his thumb.

“Hm, I wouldn’t know.” You shrug, though there’s glee in your eyes, shinning away as bright as ever. “Kiss me again please.” You lean forwards, pressing your lips to Four’s in what had become an almost familiar manner. It was almost frightening how comfortable you felt in Four’s embrace , and for a split second, you worried what tomorrow may bring, when you woke up in the afterglow.  
Mentally shaking your head of that thought, you throw everything you have into this moment, into this kiss. This time, it’s you who trails your tongue along Four’s bottom lip, seeking entrance beyond. When his lips part, you snake your tongue in, gliding your tongue along his teeth, and rubbing along one of his canine teeth.  
As you grow comfortable with the rhythm of your kiss, you slowly lift yourself up, keeping your lips locked with his. You crawl forwards slightly until you’re positioned directly above his cock. Slowly, your lips part with Four’s, and he looks almost sad, before recognition as to why you’ve parted, crosses his features.

Your hands rest over his shoulders, allowing you to keep your back mostly straight, while his other hand goes to rest over your hip, helping to guide you into position.  
Looking down, you meet his eyes, finding the sea blue to be as bright as the midday sky, staring back at you. There’s a part of you which considers pausing, and confirming that he was ready, but you quickly decide against doing so, obviously he was ready!

Ever so slowly, you lower yourself down, feeling his tip press against your entrance. Biting down on your lip, you press down further, feeling a slight burn as you take in nearly half of him. You press down slightly more, before pushing off entirely, and starting over from scratch, before repeating this routine two more times, each time lowering yourself further and further down.  
Finally, you’ve taken him entirely, the delicious sting from the stretch within you urging you to press on. Your hips sit flush against his, and the stretch of his cock inside you reminds you just how much you had _missed_ having a man around. Of course, you had never had a man quite like Four before, in fact no one had ever come close!

You stay put for a couple of minutes, allowing yourself to grow accustomed to his size, and to ensure you weren’t going to hurt yourself by starting up too quickly. “Okay. You ready?” You breathe out, looking down at the blissed out blonde.

“Only if you are.” Four smiles, though you can tell how eager he his, and how ready for this he is.

You nod your head twice, taking in a deep breath before rocking your hips against his. You start off slowly, wanting to feel every inch of him filling you, pressing against areas you weren’t even aware existed!  
He filled you in a way no other man ever had. As only you favourite battery operated boyfriend ever could. It was a feeling you never wanted to forget, and one you were sure you would be craving again in only a short period of time.

Four’s fingers pinch your skin gently as you pick up pace, him lifting his hips to meet your every thrust, and roll.  
You were working in perfect harmony, just as you did when you kissed. You found a rhythm and tempo which worked for you both, and you stuck with it, knowing it would bring you the perfect amount of pleasure.

Carefully, Four trails one hand away from your backside, crawling up along your side, before cupping over your breast. His hands were chilled, and the cold of his palm sent a shockwave of chills down your spine.  
His thumb and index fingers tweak your nipple, rolling the small bud until it became fully erect, while his other fingers worked to massage your breast.

You were in utter bliss, something which you didn’t think would be possible while living as a Ghost in the middle of a dessert, surrounded by criminals. Yet here you were, chasing after a high which you were so desperate for, which was caused by one of those very same criminals.  
Pulling one hand away from Four’s shoulder, you snake it down his chest, drawing soft, gentle patterns against the hard plains of his stomach. You tickle you fingers along his blonde happy trail, the further down you go, rewarding you with him jolting into you, and pressing impossibly further inside of you.  
Crawling your fingers further along, you finally reach your destination. You pleasure was mounting, and you were positive Four was the same, with your orgasms not in the too far future.  
Taking your middle finger, you gentle brush against your clit, shuddering under the increased pleasure. Your hips buck erratically for a few moments, before falling back into pace with Four’s. Slowly, you circle your finger against your trembling bud of nerves, your pleasure reaching an all time high.  
“Oh fuck. Four, I’m not gonna last…” You cry out, lifting yourself up on your knees and slipping him almost completely free, before pressing back down with gusto, and taking him fully once again.

“Christ! If you do that a few more times, neither will I!” He gasps, eyes rolling back in their sockets as a wave of pure ecstasy rolls over him.

You nod quickly, repeating that same motion once again, and watching as Four’s eyes flicker to that dark lust filled state. He was close, oh so close. But not as close as you.  
With a renewed fervour, your middle finger circles harder and faster against your clit, your orgasm climbing at a rapid pace now.  
“Fuck- Oh fuck!” You practically scream, throwing your head back as wave upon wave of pure unadulterated ecstasy washes over you.  
All you can see is white.  
The world around you vanishes, and all that is keeping you tethered to Earth itself is Four’s grip on you. If it weren’t for him, you were sure you would have left the Earth’s atmosphere by now.

Your walls clamp down around Four’s cock, squeezing then relaxing as you ride out your orgasm. That alone, mixed the pleasurable moans you’re emitting, is enough to send him over the edge.  
His orgasm explodes abruptly, and his hips buck up against your, slamming into you, as if he were trying to work his way deeper within you.  
His entire body shudders beneath you, as his cock empties itself entirely into his condom, your quivering walls milking him of all he had. “Jesus Christ Eight! That was….” He can barely form the words, let alone the sentence he wanted to get out, but you got the general idea of things.

With a deep breath, you collapse against his chest, the colours of the world slowly returning to you, one shade at a time.  
You can hear and feel Four’s heart hammering away in his chest, and the pride in knowing _you_ had done that, makes your own heart swell.  
Your body feels like it’s on fire, the after shocks of your orgasm rolling through you like mini tidal waves.

Four rubs his hands along your body, smoothing up and down your sides gently, as he presses soft kisses to the top of your head. “Fuck. That was amazing. You were amazing…” He rambles in between kisses.

With a coy smirk, you slowly lift your head, meeting his gaze. “Are you still mad at me for teasing you all night?”

“Another couple of rounds, and I’m sure you’ll be forgiven."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised smut, and I think I delivered on that front!  
> Hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to see you in chapter nine!


	9. Call me by my name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Yeets new chapter at you before leaping out of a closed window to escape-
> 
> So yeah, hey..... Has it been over 2 months since I last updated this story?  
> Yes, yes it has been.  
> I'm really sorry about that, I started a new job recently, and it has been really intense, but amazing too!
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I can assure you that next time we will be back to our usual length chapters!
> 
> Mostly this chapter is the new mission briefing, with a little bit of tension and a few heartfelt moments too (We're clear of the smut for the time being)
> 
> Peace and love my dudes ❤❤❤

Waking up wrapped in Four’s arms was both an unfamiliar feeling, whilst also an exceptionally welcome one. By the time you had finally fallen asleep, you could see sunlight breaching the horizon, dawn well on its way to greeting the waking world. And while others would begin to awaken and start their days, you and Four closed the curtain to the pale oranges and pinks painting the sky, turning your backs on the idea of a new day. A new day which held nothing but uncertainty and fear. Though a new day none the less.

In all the ways you had imagined waking up following last night, the way in which you did so had never once crossed your mind.  
Four had his arms wrapped firmly around your waist, as he cradled you against his chest, his chin resting atop your head. You woke slowly, vaguely aware of Four’s quiet, sleepy murmuring above you, though that in itself was not what woke you. No, instead, what greeted you was the odd sound of something hitting the small window above your bed.   
At first, you thought perhaps it was an incessant insect which was adamant the way in, or out for that matter, was through the closed window.   
Rolling over so you now lay on your back, you waited a few moments for your eyes to adjust to the bright light which streamed through your trailer. Gazing up, you noticed a shadow beyond your curtain, a shadow far bigger than that of an insect. “What the hell?” You whisper, earning a tired grunt from Four in reply.

You roll your eyes, smirking softly as you carefully peel his arms away from your naked waist, resting them back on the bed in the warmth where you had been laying. You move slowly and carefully, making sure to not disturb Four’s slumber during your investigation. Carefully, you move up onto your knees, before pulling up onto your feet, standing on your toes so you can see out of the small window.  
Pulling the curtain aside, you have to stifle a scream at what, no, _who_ you see.

Standing bellow your window, holding a fistful of small rocks is Five, who looks awfully pleased with herself. Your eyes lock with her chocolate ones, and despite seeing you, she throws yet another rock against your window, smirking up at you.   
“What the hell?” You mouth at her, unsure as to whether she could make out your words or not.

Her sparkling eyes and crooked grin say yes, but her next move screams no. “Get up! We need our fearless leader!” She screams, and there’s no doubt that every single person at base could hear her.

You glare down at her, stumbling backwards as Four flies up into a sitting position, hair a tangled mess of golden curls and shinning eyes darting around like a startled animal. “What’s going on?” He demands, eyes landing on yours, as you grip the curtain to prevent yourself from falling. If Five were still looking, she would’ve received an eyeful of an exceptionally nude you. You _pray_ she had turned away.

Slowly, you lower yourself back to the bed, crawling your way back underneath your blankets. Four is still on high alert, but you pay him no mind, whishing instead that you could rewind the clock to five minutes ago, when the outside world was nothing but a distant memory.   
“Are you going to explain what just happened, or do I have to guess?” Four finally asks, slithering back down the mattress and curling his body around yours.

“I’ll tell you, but I’m interested to hear what your theories are first.” You giggle, rolling onto your side, and combing your fingers through his hair.

He pauses for a moment, eyes squinting as he contemplates his answer. “You thought aliens had crash landed and you wanted to see for yourself, but were too scared to actually leave the trailer to see?” He blinks up at you, a grin worming its way onto his lips.

“Well I mean, how far from Area 51 are we _actually_?” You tease, playing along with his stupidity.

“Oh, Area 51 is all a lie. Area 52 is where the aliens are!”

You lift a brow, scrutinizing his words. “Oh? And where is Area 52 then, hm?”

“Right here. We are the aliens!” He grins, wrapping his arms around you again, and tickling his finger down your sides.

You gasp out a squeal, laughter pealing from your lips as he tickles you relentlessly. “No! Stop it! Don’t!” You giggle, wriggling and squirming beneath his touch.   
He rolls over you, hovering above you in a strong hold plank position, his hand poised at the side of your stomach. “Mercy! Please have mercy!” You beg, tears of joy sprinkling your cheeks.

He leans down, pressing the first gentle kiss you had experienced from him, against your lips. He doesn’t linger, not allowing it to turn into anything more, not yet at least. “I’ll have mercy. But only because you asked so nicely.”  
Carefully, he slides away from you, laying back on his side beside you. “Really though. What was that all about?” He whispers, turning his gaze up to the window for a moment, before returning to you.

You let out a soft sigh, rolling onto your side too so to face him. “How well can Five keep a secret?”

“Just as well as any of us. It’s part of the job.” He offers, doing his best to shrug in his current position.

“That’s not quite what I meant. I think – I think she knows about us. Or at the very least about what we did last night.”

There’s a pause, the air seeming to go perfectly still between you both. There’s no outside sounds, and all you can hear is the sound of your breathing. “Oh, right.”

“Yeah.” You offer with a sympathetic smile.

“She won’t say anything. At least not to anyone who’ll actually try to do something about it, like One.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she’ll probably give us hell for the next couple of months _at least._ And I would be surprised if she hasn’t told Three yet.”

“What if One finds out? I know how much shit he gives Two and Three!”

Four takes your hand in his, squeezing your fingers gently within his. “Don’t worry. He’s all talk, but no action. Two and Three have been sleeping together for like, six months now. He hasn’t done anything about it!”

You breathe a sigh of relief, squeezing his fingers back softly, feeling a wave of relaxation wash over you. He was right, One was good at talking a big game, but more often than not, he never followed through with his threats.  
With a soft sigh, you press your face against the pillow, squeezing your eyes tightly shut to block out the few rays of sun which dared to invade your vision. “We need to go.” Your voice is muffled by the pillow, but you’re positive Four had heard you.

“Do we have to?”

At this you look up, your eyes searching for his sparkling ones for a brief moment. “Yeah, we do. That’s what Five was here about. Our final briefing is supposed to start right about-” You pause, hold out your arm and peer down at your wrist, squinting at the watch which wasn’t there. “Now.”

Four looks just as disappointed as you feel, however shows no signs of voicing his feelings, at least not now anyways. With a disgruntled groan, you roll away from Four, your feet planting firmly on the floor before you hoist yourself up. The remnants of alcohol left in your system make for the room to spin just slightly for a moment or two, before righting itself. As you walk towards the small chest of drawers where you keep clothes, you toe at Four’s shirt, which at been discarded on the floor last night. There’s no avoiding the grin which snakes across your lips, as you bend down to retrieve it, balling it up and tossing it over your shoulder to the slow-moving blonde. “I think I might have a sweater that’ll fit you if you want?”

Four yawns from the bed, muttering under his breath about how much he doesn’t want to get up, though you pay him little attention, certain that if he were speaking directly to you, he would say so. “Why would I need new clothes?”

As you rummage through one of the drawers, you throw a weary gaze over your shoulder, rolling your eyes for dramatic effect. “Well, if you rock up to the briefing wearing the exact same clothes you had on last night, people will be suspicious!”

You could see in his glistening eyes, that he really couldn’t care less as to what the team thought of him, however after a moment of thought, he appeared to have a slight change of heart. “If you have something I could wear, that’d be good.”

Smiling softly, you dig down to the bottom of the middle drawer, producing a charcoal black sweatshirt before throwing it over to Four.  
While he tugs the garment over his head, you busy yourself with buttoning up a fresh pair of jeans, and performing the sniff test on a long-sleeved shirt. Upon deeming its smell unoffensive, you hurriedly put it on.   
Turing on the spot your eyes travel to Four, and you can barely hold back the laughter bubbling in your chest. In the centre of this sweatshirt, in bold white lettering reads ‘Team Jacob’. You knew exactly what the shirt said when you had given it to him, and it wasn’t your fault Four didn’t look at it before putting it on!   
Chewing on your bottom lip to hold back your smirk, you stride over to Four, who was busy rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. “You ready for this?”

He blinks rapidly across at you, eyebrows rising in surprise at your question. “I am, yeah. Are you?”

That was the real question wasn’t it? Were you ready for this? Were you prepared to give everyone their marching orders, and potentially see your entire team killed? “Only one way to find out.”

*****

Despite Five having awoken you, somehow you and Four were still the first to arrive to the briefing room, though it’s not long before the others slowly shuffle in. One was nursing a mug of pitch black coffee, while Three was rocking a pair of dark sunglasses, whether out of necessity or aesthetic you weren’t quite sure. Seven was marginally better off, though the bags beneath his eyes seemed to show he hadn’t slept well. Two and Five however were _way_ too chipper for two people who should’ve been dealing with hangovers, but yet there they were, looking as flawless as ever. You made a mental note to ask Five if she had some Doctors secrets on treating a hangover.   
“So I see Four has decided to make a political statement today…” Five smirks, her eyes trained to his sweater. She was the first to mention anything, however now, Four had five pairs of eyes glued to his chest, while you looked away to keep yourself distracted.

“Wh- what d’you mean?” He grumbles, brows creasing into a frown as he grips the hem of the sweater, pulling it away from his waist so to see what everyone was staring at. The colour drains out of his cheeks as he reads, then rereads the words, and you just _know_ he’s already plotting his revenge on you. “Eight…” He growls lowly, and you can feel his eyes boring holes into your skull beneath his stare.

“I didn’t do anything! How could I have? It’s _your_ shirt after all!”

Five chuckles, deciding to play along in this little game of yours. “Aw come on Four, there’s nothing to be ashamed of! Granted I’m more of a team Edward myself, but we’re all allowed our own opinions!”

“This isn’t _my_ shirt.”

“Then whose is it?” Three teases, waggling his brows suggestively.

A deep crimson blush creeps up along Four’s neck and cheeks, and you know he’s wishing for the ground to open up bellow him and swallow him. Finally, you turn and meet his glare, puckering your lips and blowing him a teasing kiss. He has nothing to say, there’s nothing he could say that wouldn’t clue everyone in as to where the shirt had come from, and under what circumstances. “It’s mine.” He concedes, earning a hearty laugh from the entire team.   
You’ll pay for this little prank, you just know it.

“Right then, now that we’ve established that Four was a Twihard, shall we get down to the real reason we’re all here?” One says, placing his mug down on a table, and motioning for you to join him up the front of the room.

Everyone makes themselves comfortable, or at least as comfortable as possible on plastic folding chairs.  
You step up beside One, folding your hands together behind your back, and curling your fingers together. You don’t quite know what you’re waiting for, but a part of you thinks that perhaps One will take the reigns on this one, and do all the talking. That however is _not_ the case, not since you took over for this mission at least.   
You clear your voice with a cough, both stalling and preparing yourself at the same time. “Right, so as One said in the initial introduction last month, we know where the Lushnick’s are. They’ve set up in Noumea New Caledonia. It’s a popular tourist destination for many cruise liners, however that is the local’s main source of income, tourism. There are people who live there who are desperate for medical attention, and as per usual, the Lushnick’s are promising to help these people, but not in the way a reputable Doctor would.”

“So we’re going to the South Pacific then are we?” Seven calls from the back of the room, arms folded across his chest as he watches you intently.

“Yes, those of you who have never visited the Country before will be going. Has anyone been before?” You look around at everyone, though all heads shake no. “Right, so there we have it, we’re all going to the South Pacific.”  
Turning to the computer beside you, you log in and bring up the plans you and One had come up with, displaying them on the projector for the team to see.  
Once an image of the island displays, you step away from the computer. “This is Noumea, at the very back of the island here.” You gesture to the map. “Is where the Hospital the Lushnick’s run, is set up. According to all inspections and accreditations, the hospital is up to standard and there are no concerns, at least not with the government, or with health departments.”

Leaning back over, you pull up the blueprints to the hospital itself. “This of course, is our main target. The Lushnick’s will be here, we just need to find them, and get rid of them.”

This time it’s Three who speaks up. “Is the goal to kill the Lushnick’s, or capture them so they can answer for their crimes?”

You pause at this, the moral response would be to agree with the latter option, however you know that if you were to find the Lushnick’s, then it would be the former. You turn to One, your eyes pleading for back up from him.   
“The aim is to capture them.” He declares, though there is a spark of recognition that passes through the entire team. If the need arises, kill them, no questions asked.

You close your eyes for a moment, breathing deeply before returning to your task. “So here’s the plan. One way or another, we all need to be in that hospital, there will be no one on the outside for this mission. One and Two, you’re new Doctors to the hospital, One you’ll be assigned to A&E and Two, you’ll be headed to the women’s and children’s ward.”

“Why isn’t Five one of the Doctor’s too?” Seven queries, looking between you and her.

Five answers for you, having had this exact same conversation with you only a week earlier. “It’s too much of a risk. surgeons move around all the time, I can’t risk being recognised if there is a surgeon I’ve previously worked with. It would jeopardize the whole mission.” Seven nods his understanding, and all attention is back to you.

“Five will be head wardsman for paediatrics. It has come to our understanding the Lushnick’s have developed a particular interest in _healing_ women and children, so those will be our main bases to cover. Three, congratulations, you’re now working in the kitchens, and will be delivering meals to patients. And Seven, you’ll be a security officer, patrolling the wards we believe the Lushnick’s will be in. That way you can trail them.”

You turn your attention to Four now, he vaguely knew what his role in this mission would entail, but you had kept most of the details to yourself, until now. If all went according to plan, Four would be face to face with the Lushnick’s. “Four, you’ll be getting admitted to A&E with a severe migraine, this is where One will come in, he will help build your story and keep the act going.” You bite down on your lower lip, meeting Four’s gaze for just a moment longer than necessary, though it did help to calm your nerves. “I’ll be head of security. This will allow me access to the hospital’s computer systems, their security cameras, and I’ll be able to get you guys anywhere within the hospital.”

“How will you be head of security? Surely there’s already someone in that position?” Four asks, brows creased in confusion. This was something you hadn’t thought to mention to him, though then again, up until last night you hadn’t been anything more than flirtatious friends, and there had been no reason to inform him…

“I’ll be arriving in Noumea before you all.”

“How much before?”

You fold your arms across your chest, meeting Four’s intense gaze. “Two weeks before you. I leave this afternoon. I’ll be removing the current head of security, and taking his place. I’ll spend my time there before you arrive, becoming acquainted with the hospital, and sorting out the logistics for you to all begin working.” You pause for a moment, waiting to see if Four will say anything more, though for now he seems to just be listening. “We will all be arriving in instalments. One and Seven will arrive three days after I do, and will begin working the following day. Five, two days after them. Three and Seven one day after her, and Four you’ll be arriving twelve days after I do.”

“Wait, why am I arriving after everyone? What good will I be to you all arriving that late?” Four demands, standing now with his arms folded across his chest. You had expected him to dislike this plan, hell even One had warned you of exactly this happening, but as per usual, you hadn’t listened.

You meet Four’s gaze head on, standing strong against him. “Your cover for this mission, is as a tourist. You’re just there visiting the island, and will happen to fall unwell while there. We can’t have everyone arrive on the same day, it would look too suss. Having you arrive last should keep you in the clear, no one would expect a tourist to intentionally cut their vacation short for a hospital visit. Out of all of us, you should be the safest.”

“I don’t want to be the safest!”

“Well you are!”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want you getting hurt!” You almost shriek, your eyes shining with unshed tears. You could live with the other ghosts being injured, hell you would even be fine with yourself being injured during this mission, but not Four. You can’t see Four hurt during this.

The air in the briefing room is thick like a winter’s morning fog, no one dares to break the silence, nor the staring match between you and Four.   
With a deep breath in, you tear your eyes away from his, clearing your throat before continuing. “Once I arrive, I’ll get myself access to the hospital securities’ database and change over the contact details referring to their employment officer. The number will be changed to mine, and I will become their first point of contact when needing to hire a new head of security. Back to how I will become head of security, the current head is experiencing marital issues with his wife who lives in Scotland with their children. He moved to Noumea for work, and she refused to move with him. The day I arrive, I’ll be sending him an email from her lawyers, demanding he return to Scotland at once or she will be taking full custody of their children. Naturally, he will leave immediately, which means the hospital will require a new head of security. This is where my contact changes will come into play. I will be called, and the hospital will request I assign a new head of security to begin working ASAP. I’ll begin working the following day, and will create access passes for all of our _new_ staff.”

“What about credentials? I don’t know a whole lot about being a doctor, but I’m positive they have some kind of proof of who they are.” Two asks, tilting her head to the side and regarding you with a look of complete interest. So far, despite all her scrutinizing, she has been unable to see any flaws in your plan.

“One has everything you need. I have created diplomas licences, literally everything you could possibly require to prove yourselves as active doctors should anyone request them. One will make sure you have yours before you leave.” Two nods her understanding, and goes back to taking down notes on the mission.

“I will warn you all now, I cannot guarantee you will all have access to the same wards and restricted areas of the hospital. I will do my best to grant access to everything to you all, however it may not be possible. Seven, Three and Five, you will be the most likely to have access to everywhere within the hospital, as you will all have the most reason to visit all areas. I’ll do my best for everyone though.”

“What exactly am I meant to be doing during all of this?” Four grumbles, his eyebrows creased in frustration.

One replies before you even have the chance, and you remind yourself to thank him later. You’re not sure if you had the heart to tell him just what his role actually was. “You’re bait for the Lushnick’s. As Eight mentioned, you’re going to present to A&E with a migraine. I’ll be your doctor, and I’m basically going to convince everyone that you’re much worse than you actually are. The plan is, that the Lushnick’s will hear about how horribly unwell you are, and will swoop in and save the day. When they do, you have to agree to everything they say. Tell them that you have no immediate family or next of kin. Let them think you’re all alone, that you’re vulnerable. If your acting is good enough, they’re going to believe you, and they’re going to try and _help_ you. That’s when the rest of us will be there to stop them, before they have the chance to actually do anything to you of course.”

Four’s frown has deepened, and his eyes have grown dark. He doesn’t like the plan, doesn’t want to be bait. He want’s to be in on all of the action, fighting tooth and nail in order to get back at the Lushnick’s for everything they’ve ever done. But for once, he knows better than to argue, he may not have a great deal of faith in One, especially after their cluster fuck of a first mission, but you… _You_ he trusts with his life.  
“Okay. So when I present to A&E, when I fill in the arriving form, you want me to leave all of the emergency contact details blank more or less?”

You nod, offering him a soft half smile. “Yes please, it will help lure in the Lushnick’s if they think you have no one.”

“Alright, I can do that.”

Folding your arms across your chest, you gaze around the room, your eyes falling to each member of your team. “Does anyone have any other questions before I leave?”

There’s a chorus of ‘No’s’ throughout the room, and you smile to yourself, rather proud that not only had you created this mission, but you had successfully explained it thoroughly too. “Wonderful. If anyone does think of anything, One will be here for a little while longer. You will all be able to contact us through email once we’re in Noumea, and upon arriving at the hospital you will all be issued with an earpiece for us to communicate during the mission. Four, One will slip you your earpiece once you arrive at A&E.”

Once again, everyone nods their understanding, and you clasp your hands together tightly in front of you. “Good luck everyone, and I’ll be seeing you in Noumea soon.” And with that, you make your exit from the briefing room, heading to your trailer to finish packing your bag before your departure.

*****

You already had a few of the essentials packed, however you still had a great deal more you required before leaving for the airport in five hours’ time. One had assigned himself as your designated driver, and you had simply shrugged and accepted his offer. You assumed it was to go over a few last-minute details he may think of before you left.  
As you fold your clothes neatly into your bag, you find yourself fighting back against dark thoughts which cloud your mind. _What if we don’t all survive? What if the Lushnick’s recognise you? What if the plan fails and Four ends up getting hurt? What if-_  
Before your overactive imagination has the chance to create any other worst case scenarios, a knock on your closed trailer door pulls you back into the present.   
You jump on the spot, blinking rapidly down to the pair of pants you held half folded in your arms. “C-come in.”

The door squeals open, and Four steps through, both hands in the pocket of the sweatshirt you had let him borrow. “We need to talk.” He begins, eyes focusing on everything but you.

You nod slowly, trying desperately to catch his gaze. “Yes, I suppose we do.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving early?”

“Would it have changed anything?”

“Yes? No? Maybe? Fuck Eight, I don’t know!”

“Look me in the eyes and tell me the truth. If you knew I was leaving today, before the rest of you. Would you still have slept with me last night?”

There’s no thought to his next words, they tumble from his mouth without a filter. “Of course I would’ve!”

You smile gently, bowing your head slightly. “I didn’t know that. I was afraid to tell you. Afraid that maybe if I did, then last night never would’ve happened. Or if it did happen, you would’ve seen it as some kind of farewell.”

“There’s not going to be a farewell, do you hear me Eight? No one is saying goodbye, at least not today, not for this mission.”

“Okay, it’s not goodbye then. But just promise me one thing will you?”

“Of course, anything.” Four whispers, stepping closer to you and reaching out to take both your hands in his.

You bite your lower lip, before lifting your head, your eyes finally meeting his. “When it does come time to say goodbye, because the day will eventually come. Promise to call me by my name, Y/N.”

You can see the heartbreak in his eyes, he doesn’t want to think about ever saying goodbye to you, just as he never thought he would have to say goodbye to Six. But here you both were, preparing for something that you had convinced yourselves would never happen. “If the day comes, then I’ll call you Y/N, but until then, you’ll always be Eight to me.” He pauses, rubbing soft circles against the backs of your hands with his calloused thumbs. “Same for me, if we have to say goodbye, will you call me Billy? I don’t want to be a number to you my whole life.”

“You’ll never just be a number to me Billy.”


	10. Darkest paradise I've ever seen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there,  
> I'll start off right away by saying how terribly sorry I am for such a delay between chapters. This chapter has been partially written for about 2 months now, however in that time, my aunt passed away. It has hit me very hard, and I needed to take a step away from writing so I can be with my family, and also so I can take care of myself and my mental health.
> 
> With all of that said and done with, I am now getting back in the saddle, and am trying my best to update just about all of my ongoing works!
> 
> So for those of you who are returning to this story after so long, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for waiting with me. And for those who are new to this story, thank you for joining us here!

Flying into Noumea, your headphones pressed snuggly against your ears, you watch as miles upon miles of crystal blue ocean spans ahead of you. From just about every direction you look through the small aeroplane window, all you can see is blue. That is aside from the tiny speck on the horizon, which you can only assume is in fact, your destination. It seems awfully far away, and a part of you has managed to convince the less logical section of your brain, that you still have plenty of time before you arrive. Before the plan takes motion. Before shit goes down. Or you have months to continue planning your take down of the Lushnick’s…. But as you gaze out the window once more, the tiny speck growing ever larger, your rational mind takes over, reminding you that in less than two weeks, provided everything went according to plan, the Lushnick’s would be yours.

As the plane touches down at La Tontouta international airport, you await the captain’s departure announcement before standing up and stretching your cramping legs, feeling your joints _pop_ , and muscles ache from having spent too long in one position. Once the initial rush of passengers have passed you, you reach up into the overhead compartments and retrieve the navy blue rucksack you had stowed up there. With the bag flung over your shoulder, you disembark the plane, and head towards the baggage carousel within the terminal.   
Within your rucksack, along with a few emergency items on the off chance your bags were lost, included five various ID cards, all hand made for you by One’s slightly shady yet reliable connection; a wad of Pacific Franc, the currency of New Caledonia, and of course your laptop. One had assured you that the apartment you would be using as a base had all the setup you required, however you felt more confident with your own computer, even just as a backup for an emergency.   
As you cross the tarmac, you recall the burner phone One had given you upon your departure, the only contacts held within were those of the Ghost’s, though knowing that you still have the ability to communicate with your team before their arrival helped alleviate some of your nerves. Switching the phone off flight mode, you held it firmly in your sweaty palm, half expecting it to buzz to life with missed notifications, as it would if it were your true phone. The influx of notifications never come, there is however _one_ which does buzz through.   
‘Are you safe?’

You scan over the message again and again, reading just about every possible subtext into it within a matter of seconds, before finally, you take a deep breath in, hold it for ten seconds, then release. ‘It’s Four, don’t be so dramatic. He actually cares about you.’ You remind yourself, just as your thumbs tap against the phone keyboard.  
‘Just landed. Collecting bags then heading to the apartment. Should be there within the hour.’ You reply, pocketing the phone again and keeping your eyes peeled for you luggage.

The phone vibrates again, but this time you ignore it, opting instead to find the Taxi rank now that you had procured your bags.   
On you way through the airport, you discard you boarding pass into a trashcan, saying a mental goodbye to the alias of Ginevra Connelly. Of course you still kept the ID card with Ginevra’s details in your bag just in case, but the aim was to only use each alias once. One for flying, one for working, and one for personal business. The others were just there if any _unexpected_ events should arise.  
Once outside, you only need wait a few minutes before a taxi pulls up, the driver popping the trunk of the car for you to deposit your bags. Once the trunk is closed, you slide into the back seat, sitting directly behind the driver.  
“Bonjour.” The driver offers with a small smile, meeting your eyes in the rear-view mirror.

You smile gently back. “Bonjour.” You greet, before reciting off the address to the apartment in Noumea which One had insisted you memorise.

With a nod of his head, the taxi driver speeds off, either ignoring or simply disregarding all speed signs which he passed.  
As he drove like a bat out of hell, you check your phone once more.  
‘That’s good. Glad you’re alright.’ Four had replied, earning a small smile to creep over your lips.

‘Well, the flight didn’t kill me. Can’t say the same about my driver though….’

‘Axe murderer?’

‘Nothing quite as exciting. Or at least, I didn’t notice an axe when I checked the trunk…. Just a crazy driver is all. You’ll see when you get here. It looks to be a trend.’

‘Can’t wait!’ Before a rapid second response of. ‘Stay out of trouble until I get there please?’

‘I promise.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Love yo-‘ You begin typing, before frantically deleting the characters. As much as you wanted to send the message, you just couldn’t quite bring yourself to do it. Something about sending those words, via a burner phone while you’re in a totally different country, just felt wrong. Perhaps that was the nerves of the mission talking? No matter, you would saver the phrase for when you saw Four in person.

You put your phone away after that, not trusting yourself to continue the conversation with the direction it was headed. You knew Four was still, not necessarily mad at you, but disappointed that you hadn’t told him of your early departure. You were also acutely aware of his fear for you being in a foreign country all alone. You were positive that if it hadn’t been for the sudden announcement of your leaving, then he would have tried much harder to convince you and One to let him arrive with you.   
Of course, deep down you knew that despite Four’s protective nature, he understood why he was unable to arrive with you, or with the others. But it didn’t stop him from disliking the plan any less.

The driver watches as you put your phone away and takes this time to engage you in the typical taxi, passenger chit chat. “Parlez-vous français?” He enquires, and it takes you a moment to comprehend what he had asked. You had a slight knowledge of the French language, but it was very, _very_ basic.

“No sorry, I don’t speak French.” You offer with a half smile, shrugging lightly as you turn your attention to the scenery blurring past you.

“Ah, a tourist then. Here for a vacation, are you? He continues, drumming his fingers along the steering wheel as he changes lanes in what would be considered a highly illegal maneuver literally anywhere else in the World.

Deciding that if you looked out the window any longer you may become motion sick, you turn your focus to staring directly at the back of the drivers head. “Mhm, I’ve always wanted to visit, go snorkelling, maybe go for a ride on one of those glass bottom boats? Who knows!” You ramble on, though nothing you say is quite a lie. In truth, you had always wanted to visit Noumea, and were supposed to when you were thirteen. You were supposed to go on a cruise to the South Pacific Islands as a birthday present, however that never quite happened. You suppose in the long run, it’s a good thing you never came here as a child, if you had, then this mission may not be going ahead. Or at least not with you at the helm.

“My cousin owns a glass bottom boat, he runs tours every day. Here, take this card, it has his details.” He pulls a crinkled business card out of his shirt pocket, and passes it back to you. You take it graciously, taking a moment to read over it before stowing it away in your bag.

“Thank you.”

As you drive through the city, the driver points out the occasional tourist attraction, to which you nod and play along with the façade you had created. Most things he says go in one ear then out the other, but there is one which catches your attention. “Over the is the hospital. Might be good to know where that is just in case.” He offers with a grin, gesturing to the large building on your left.

Your head whips around to face that direction in an instant, eyes growing wide as you drink in the sight. “That’s the hospital…” You whisper, mouth going dry as you watch the building disappear into the distance behind you.

The rest of the drive is kept in relative silence, mostly on your part. Having finally seen your destination for this mission, it all suddenly felt so real. Inside that building, which should be used for good, were two of the most vile and wicked people you know to exist. They had nearly two weeks left before they met they’re match however, and that thought alone set a chilling grin on your lips.

*****

Once you arrived at the apartment you were faced with a serious problem, a lack of keys to the front door. Surely One should’ve thought of this, he owned the fucking place!   
“Well that’s just great. Now what?” You hiss to yourself, glaring daggers at the wooden door that currently separated you from your new, temporary home and work space.

Reaching behind, you fish around in your bag in search of your phone. Muttering swears beneath your breath, until finally your fingers clasp onto the cool, smooth device.  
Scowling at the screen as you scroll through the limited contacts, you press call against One. Standing with your back leaning against the front door, one arm folded across your chest, and your left foot tapping the ground impatiently.

“Don’t tell me you’re _already_ in trouble.” One grumbles after the sixth ring. His words causing your sour mood to only worsen.

“No I am not.” You hiss, lowering your voice to a whisper as you hear voices out on the street.

“What do you need Eight?”

“I want to know how I’m supposed to get into the bloody apartment! There’s not fucking keys!”

There’s a pause on the line for a minute or two, and for the first time ever, you realise that you’ve rendered One, the fearless leader, utterly speechless.  
“The keys are on the table.” His voice is mumbled, and you barely catch what he says.

“I’m sorry, what was that now?”

One groans, and you can almost picture his frustrated face, perhaps he would even be pinching the bridge of his nose… “I said, the keys are on the table, _inside_ the apartment.”

He sounds disappointed in himself, and rightly so. “Well, that’s helpful isn’t it?”

“Don’t get sassy with me missy.”

“Why not? This is _your_ house isn’t it? Shouldn’t you have a set of keys with you?”

“It’s one of my houses..”

“That doesn’t make this any better.”

“Did you bring your lock pick?”

“Of course I did. The question is, which bag is it in….” You mumble, gazing around at the bags you had discarded by the door.

“I think you know what to do. Good luck kid.” There’s a grin to One’s voice now, and you have half a mind to tell him off for his stupidity, however before you get the chance, the line goes dead.

With a deep sigh, you resign yourself to do the only thing you can, break in. Well technically it wasn’t breaking in, not when you were supposed to be living here, though you imagine that logic may not stand up in court if someone were to catch you in the act.

Withing ten minutes, all of your bags lay open on the ground, items of clothing strewn about the place, as you had frantically searched the brown leather pouch which housed your lockpick tools. Upon finding it, you groan at the mess you had made, stuffing everything back in the bags haphazardly, you would deal with the unorganised mess later.

Gazing around, you double then triple check that there is no one around to see you. The voices on the street had long since faded away, leaving only the sounds of birds chirping, and the distant crash of waves. Confident you’re alone, you bow over the door handle, and begin picking the lock. It occurs to you that perhaps this was One’s plan all along. After all, he was the one to provide you with said lock picking kit.  
You brush that thought off, and return to the task at hand, fiddling with the handle for roughly fifteen minutes until finally you hear a _click._ “Eureka!” You declare quietly yet triumphantly. The door swings open, and dusty air breezes out past you, causing you to cough and sneeze. Blimey, this place must’ve been closed up for months!

Inside the apartment, you don’t take too long looking around, you’ll have time for that later. You take note of where the master bedroom is, and claim that as yours by dumping your bags atop the bed, and seek out the bathroom. With everything in order as far as you could see, you take your laptop and bring it out into the main living area where what you can only assume is your area has been set up.   
There are three monitors set up on a large oak desk, which looked wildly out of place in the otherwise, holiday home themed house. The largest sitting in the middle of the desk, with two smaller screens on either side. It’s not a perfect set up, but it will work for what you need, and that’s all that really matters, especially considering most of your work would be done from inside the hospital.

Settling down at the makeshift study desk, you take a final moment to glance around the apartment, spotting a set of what you presume is house keys sitting on the dining table. “Well, at least One was right about where you were.” You mutter quietly, glaring at the object in question.

***** 

Infiltrating the hospital database took far longer than you had initially expected. Over the past few weeks, you had made practice runs of worming your way into other systems for different hospitals around the world, however at no point had you thought to test your access to the hospital you actually needed entrance to. “It can’t be any different to any of the others.” You surmise, squinting at the screen before you, elbows propped up on the desk, and chin resting on your interlocked fingers.   
Truth be told it wasn’t that much different, not in the scheme of things, however someone, and goodness knows who, had made the entire system nearly impenetrable! Key word being _nearly_. However, if there was one thing you had learned after years of sneaking your way into systems you shouldn’t, it was that no matter how tricky a program may first appear, there is _always_ a way in! And this system was no different.

One pizza delivery and three energy drinks later, the start of a migraine -which was either caused by your frustration, or the copious amounts of caffeine- and you were finally in! The hospital was, in every sense of the word, _yours_. The _possibilities_ , oh the possibilities!   
Your first task only took a few moments, scanning through encrypted lists until you came across the one which housed the contact details for all members of staff. The list consisted of the staff members name, followed by their position of work, contact number and email, and finally a next of kin. Truly, this list looked to have been composed specifically for you and your needs. Copying the details you required for a one Mister Frank Sea, and pasting them momentarily into a word document, you move onto your second task.   
Page upon page you read through, jumping between links and praying that perhaps this time you had found the correct page, you finally make it to the hospital security system. You blame your caffeinated jittery hands for how long it took you to find. Once in the system, you begin changing over a few simple details, nothing too extreme that could potentially be cause for concern if anyone were to see, but the changes you made were imperative to the mission.   
The contact name for the security recruitment agency remained the same, however you now deleted out the previous phone number, adding in One’s phone number as planned.   
Finally came task three, which you had been dreading since you woke up this morning. The guilt of what you were about to do had been gnawing at you all week. You weren’t a bad person, not really; you kept telling yourself, hoping that perhaps if you said so enough, it would be true. You feared sending this email would ruin Frank, that it would destroy him… ‘It’s just business.’ You can hear One telling you, his exact words after you had both come up with this plan. “It’s just business, I’m just doing my job. It’s for the _greater_ _good_.” You whisper, your voice catching in your throat.   
You don’t give yourself another moment to dwell on things, and instead quickly write up your email on the address you had created specifically for the mission. The email informs Frank of his urgent presence being required in Scotland to discuss the legalities of his and his wife’s separation, and custody of his children. Holding your breath, you hit send, watching impatiently until the message had left your outbox.   
By the time Frank would arrive in Scotland, the company you had pretended to work for would be closed for three weeks due to renovations. He would have no way of contacting them to find out why his presence was required, and of course try as he might, there was no chance he would receive a reply to any of his emails to you. So for three weeks, he would stick it out at home, arguing with his wife, all while you take over for him at the hospital.

*****

Soft pinks and oranges had begun to coat the evening sky as dusk rolled in, and for the first time in years, Four found himself staring up at the sky, envisioning a future. A future which didn’t involve hurting or killing people, no matter how evil and vile they were. Just a plain, normal future. He didn’t quite know what had brought these thoughts upon him, they were the types of thoughts he had managed to banish into the deepest parts of his mind. In fact, the last time he had thought about a normal life, was shortly after Six had died. They all mourned him of course, but the reality of losing Six had weighed down on him greatly. And for close to three months, Four had seriously considered abandoning the Ghosts, and starting a fresh life far away from them.   
At the time though, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t leave the team. And besides, he had no where to go, and no one to run to.  
But now?  
Now was different, he had you. The two of you could run away together, leave the Ghosts, leave this life behind. Start over wherever in the world you wanted you, far away from One and his plans of revenge against those who had wronged the world….

He shook his head, the images of normalcy which had formed in his minds eye, fading away, just as the sun was.  
He couldn’t leave, not when this was the closest thing to a family he had had since he was a toddler. If there was one thing he knew for sure, you don’t abandon your family. His own parents had taught him that the hard way.

Carefully, Four pushed himself up from where he had been relaxing atop his trailer. His back was stiff after having been laid down for what felt like too long, but he paid it little mind.  
As he leapt down to the ground, a loud yell echoed throughout base.

“Will somebody answer my phone? I can’t get to it right now!” It was One, yelling at the top of his lungs from god knows where, his voice sounded muffled though.

Next came Five’s screamed reply. “Where are you then?”

“Garage!” One yelled back.

“Coming, I’ll get it!” Four watched as Five went darting across base, kicking up red dust in her haste.

For interests sake, Four made his meandering way towards the garage, just to see what was so urgent about this phone call, and why One couldn’t get it.  
He strolled in, hands in his pants pockets, and hood drawn over his head. His eyes darting between Five, who was reading from a script scribbled in an old notebook while on the phone, to One who’s feet were sticking out from beneath a silver Audi R8.

“Good afternoon, leader security how may I help you?” Five recited in what was either the worst or perhaps best Dolly Parton imitation Four had ever heard. “Oh sure, you need a new head of security? How soon do you need them to start?” There was a pause, and Four stepped further over to the Audi, titling his head to the left as he lifted a quizzical brow.   
“Asap? Well where are y’all located?... Oh I see, let me transfer you.”

“You alright down there mate?” Four smirked giving One’s foot a gentle kick.

“Yep, never better. Why do you ask?”

“Well it’s just, you’re only like, ten steps away from your phone… Not sure why you couldn’t get it yourself is all.” He shrugged, folding his arms across his chest, and rocking back on his heels.

One pauses for a few moments, selecting his next words carefully. “I just didn’t want to stop what I was doing midway through.”

Four crouched slightly, peering at the floor creeper One was reclined on beneath the car. One of the wheels had popped off entirely, while another on the same side was horrendously bent out of shape. “You’re stuck aren’t ya?”

“Yes I’m stuck.”

*****

Two hours later, your mobile rings with One’s caller ID flashing, grinning you answer with a bright smile. “Good afternoon, Leader security recruitment how may I help you?” You recite in an overly practiced voice, not that the person on the other end of the line could tell, but it sure made you feel better, knowing you weren’t about to trip over your own words.  
One had done just as was planned, and upon playing receptionist for the security company, had transferred the call directly to you, and now it was time to get yourself employed.

The female voice on the other end of the line begins speaking frantically, telling you about how the current head of security for her hospital had just left unexpectedly, and that they needed someone to fill in for him until they could find out when he would return.

“Ma’am, it will all be fine, I assure you. Now can you please tell me your company code?” You smile, while typing aimlessly into a word document. So long as the woman on the phone could hear you typing, you would not raise any suspicion, even if all you were typing was smiley faces.  
“I see, and this is a hospital based in Noumea New Caledonia, is that correct? – Mhm no problems at all. How soon do you require someone to commence?” You type out the few details she tells you which are actually important to you, before returning to the faces. “I will have to see who I have in area who may be able to assist you. One of contractors recently moved to the area I believe for a change of scenery. May I put you on hold and see if I am able to call her?” The moment the woman agrees, you place the call on hold and laugh to yourself. The temptation to have an actual conversation with yourself just to keep the charade up is there, however considering as it had only been a few hours of you living alone, you felt you should at least attempt to keep the bouts of insanity to a minimum for now.  
“Hello, are you still there?” You ask a few minutes later. “Anastasia Breaker will be available as of tomorrow morning, if you could please forward all details regarding her employment to the following email address, then she will see you in the morning.”   
The woman is nearly in tears as she thanks you, promising she would send the information within minutes. “Of course, no problems. Have a lovely evening, and once again, thank you for choosing leader security.”

As the phone goes silent, you stand up and stretch, raising your arms above your head. You’d done it, you were in. Or rather Anastasia was in, but no matter who’s name was on the contract, you were the one who would be doing all the work.

*****

For the next few hours, you read through the multiple emails which arrived for Anastasia Breaker, advising you of where to go tomorrow morning, and who you would be meeting upon your arrival. It was nothing too unusual, or anything unexpected, the only downside was that you had been requested to arrive at 6 am. To some that may be ok, normal even. But to you, a perpetual night owl, it felt like torture.  
After laying out your clothing for the following morning, to allow for a slight sleep in, you lay down in the double bed you had claimed as yours. You knew it would likely end up being shared once the others arrived, but for now, it was all yours.   
The lights had all been turned out, leaving you in near complete darkness. The only light was that of the shining silver moon, peering down on you through a forest of thick trees.  
Try as you might however, sleep seemed to escape you. Perhaps it was nerves of tomorrow and your new ‘job’, or maybe it was just the fact you were sleeping in a new bed. No matter the cause, after tossing and turning for nearly an hour, you eventually gave up. Sitting upright, you grab the burner phone off the nightstand, having left it beside you with an alarm on for the morning.

You stare down at the bare screen, so used to your own which was filled with various apps. On this phone however, there was nothing of interest to do.   
Your thumb hovered over your contacts, and you bite your lower lip in thought. You knew One would be furious if he found out you were using the phone as anything but emergency contacts and an alarm, but at the same time, you found yourself having a rather difficult time caring about him and what he thought while he was so far away.  
Finally, you press down on the contact, and listen to the phone ring on loudspeaker.

“Hello?” Four’s distinct voice carries through, and you feel a wave of comfort roll over you. His voice alone felt like home, and it almost frightened you to think that, especially considering how brief your relationship had been so far.

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Oh, Oh! I’m sorry love I had no idea. This number isn’t programmed into my phone, I genuinely thought it was a telemarketer or something!” He was rambling, and you could almost see the pale crimson blush which would be creeping up his neck and cheeks, as he too realised, he was rambling.

“It’s totally fine, I’m not really supposed to be calling you. But I needed to hear a friendly voice.”

“Who says you’re not supposed to call?”

“One.”

“Fuck him and his stupid rules!”

“I would really rather not.”

“You know what I mean, you idiot.” You can practically hear his eye roll through his words, and you can’t help but smile at that. At how well you know his mannerisms these days. “How has day one gone? Everything going according to plan?”

You nod, before recalling that he can’t see you. “Yep, things seem to be rather smooth sailing for now. I’ll be starting at the hospital tomorrow morning, and from there I can get everything else set in motion.”

“That’s brilliant, at this rate it’ll all be over before we know it!”

You pause for a moment, resting the phone on the pillow beside your head. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

“What’s wrong hm? You don’t sound convinced?”

Rolling over, you lay flat on your back, staring up at the ceiling. “I suppose I’m just trying to come to terms with how quickly this is all happening, you know? Like, I feel it was just yesterday One announced who the targets were, and now suddenly I’m here? It’s all happening so fast.”

“I know exactly what you mean, I can’t quite wrap my head around it all either. But look at how far we’ve come. How far _you’ve_ come! Remember that day when the targets were announced-“

“You mean the day I ran out of the briefing and nearly killed us both?” You interrupt, smirking slightly at the memory.

“Yes, _that_ day. But look at you now, look at where you are! You’ve changed so much in such a short period of time. You’re far more prepared than any of us here at base are, and for us, this is either our second or third mission! For you, this is your first, and you’re already doing better than any of us could’ve imagined.”

“Do you mean that, or are you just saying it so I stop panicking?”

“I’ve never meant anything more in my life Eight, I promise.”

“Thank you, I – thank you.” You whisper, rolling to your side and looking down at the phone. You sigh deeply, closing your eyes tight before allowing them to slowly open. “Tell me something that no one else in the Ghosts knows about you.”

You hear him chuckle, a deep rumble which you wish you could wrap your arms around him and feel as it flowed through you. “Do you want something to laugh at?”

“Yes, I don’t want to cry tonight. Make it funny.”

Four hums to himself, and you curl around your pillow, cradling the phone near your chest.  
“Right, here’s one. Bet you didn’t know I have a criminal record as an arsonist!”

He sounds proud of himself, and for the life of you, you can’t fathom why. “You what now?”

“It was my first charge, long before the cops ever figured out I was stealing, which I had been doing for years before this occurred.”

“How long have you been a thief, Four?”

“A long while… But that’s a story for another time. This is about fire lord me!”

You groan, rolling your eyes at the nickname he had given himself, while leaving a mental note to ask him about his past one day, when you weren’t in the middle of a mission.

“I was maybe 15 or 16, and was with this girl who I thought was made of pure heaven. I practically worshiped the ground she walked on, and daydreamed about her all day every day. To her though, I was a kid who was a year or two younger than her, and she just loved the attention, not matter who it came from. I knew she only spent a month with each of her boyfriends, but naive young me thought that maybe I could convince her to be with me forever. Spoiler alert, that didn’t work out. One night I decided to surprise her when she came home from dance lessons, her parents were out of town for the week, and I figured I would make a romantic evening for the two of us, and would allow her to be my first.” He pauses for a moment, as if wanting to see if you wanted to hear where this was going.

“It’s fine Four, just keep telling the story.” You giggle, shaking your head softly at where this was all going.

“Well I got super fancy, ordered takeout because heaven knows I cannot cook, even managed to nick a bottle of champagne from the local liquor store. It was cheap nasty stuff now that I think about it, but at the time, I felt very grown up. I lit candles all over her townhouse, there were some in the kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms and even the kitchen. I think I went through an entire matchbook that night. So finally she gets home, and I’m nervous as hell. Legs jittery, forehead sweaty, and look the exact opposite of sexy like I had hoped for. She’s all smiles, and even thanks me for setting up a lovely evening. After we eat, she steps outside to have a smoke, and I clean up in the kitchen. The next thing I know, she’s shouting from the front door, and then the smoke alarming is blaring throughout the house. I run outside, and find her staring up at the second floor at her bedroom window, where billows of dark smoke are seeping out. Turns out, she had a cat I didn’t know about, and the fucker knocked down one of the candles, it landed near her bedroom curtains, and the flames engulfed pretty much the entire room. Cops and firemen came, shockingly they didn’t believe me when I said it was the cat. And the fact that I had been in her home without her for so long didn’t help my argument either….”

“Oh my goodness, so you were actually innocent? The cat got you a record?” You laugh, pressing your palm to your forehead.

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up. That cat is the reason I don’t do romantic anymore.” He grumbled playfully.

“Aw, and why’s that? Cat got your tongue?!” You chortle, you were definitely borderline tired now, because to you, that was officially the funniest pun in the world.

“Oh dear, oh no…. Eight that was terrible, please _never_ say anything like that again.”

“Aww, come on! It was funny!”

“No love, no it wasn’t.”

There’s no use in arguing the point, you knew you were funny and that was all that mattered. “Fine, I’ll stop with the cat puns especially seeing as you’re not _feline_ it…”

‘You are very annoying, you know that right?”

“Of course, but it’s part of my appeal!”

“Whatever you say. But I do think You need some sleep, because you sound hella tired right now.”

As if on que, a yawn slips from your lips, giving away just how tired you now were. “You may be right.”

“Good night love, good luck tomorrow. I know you’ll be amazing.”

You smile at his words, tracing your finger along the edge of the phone. “Thank you. I’ll see you soon, ok?”

“Ok.”

You end the call, and place the phone back on the nightstand. As you allowed your eyes to drift shut, you can’t help but feel just that little bit more confident that things were going just as they were planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you for being here and reading through this chapter. I'm not overly thrilled with how it turned out, but I think that could be because I keep thinking about how the next few chapters are going to be, and how different they will be to anything else we've had so far!  
> I do hope you enjoyed this though, and I look forward to seeing you all in the next chapter!


	11. Don't let me fall, at least not alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I am terribly sorry for the delay with getting this chapter posted, however it has been posted sooner than I thought I would get it out, so personally I'm taking that as win!  
> As always, I truly hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> Lots of love <3

_“Four? Can you hear me?”  
Billy felt weak, and highly disoriented. His head was spinning, as if he actually was fighting a migraine, unlike the one he was supposed to be faking…. Faking, why was he faking a migraine again? “Four, stay with us!”   
The voice continued calling out, though why was this person yelling out a number? A name sure, he could understand that. But calling out random numbers? That just served to confuse him more._

_“Four, god dammit! Keep your fucking eyes open!”  
This was a new voice now, one which sounded just as Billy’s eyes had slowly drifted closed against the harsh fluorescent lights above him. How strange, surely these people weren’t addressing him were they?_

_“Four, please just stay with us a little longer! Five, how are you going with those injections?”  
The same voice from before was firing orders, her voice holding an edge of fear and concern.  
Suddenly a shadow appeared above his closed eyes, and carefully he peeled them open, relieved to not be greeted with bright lights, and instead by a shadowed figure.  
“Billy, please just keep your eyes open for me. You’re going to be fine, I swear.”   
She was whispering to him, or at least that’s what it sounded like. Though it was hard to be sure, especially as he struggled to keep his eyes from falling shut once more._

_How had things turned out like this?  
The last thing he could recall, was speaking with a woman dressed in white at a reception desk. Then it had all gone blank for him._

*****

You paced around the small living room of the house you had all been calling base for the past few weeks, sucking in deep breath after deep breath, all the while clutching your arms around yourself in a tight embrace. “Nope, I can’t do it. I cannot do this guys!”

Two looked up at you from her gossip magazine, having taken great pleasure in the abundance of French reading material. She was the only one of you in the group to have settled into your temporary accommodation, and was fitting in with the locals perfectly. Rolling her eyes at your outburst, she returned to her reading.  
It wasn’t that she was being unsupportive, far from it actually. It was just that she had reached her limit of words of support, forty odd minutes ago, at the _beginning_ of your breakdown.

“Yes, you can. You know you can! We’ve been over the plan hundreds of times now, everything is in place. Weapons are stored in the hospital, the Lushnick’s are _there_ , we’ve _seen_ them! Everything is working out according to plan. Four will be on his way to Emergency within a few hours, then it’s all up to us. We can’t leave him.” It was One’s turn to play reassurer this time around, and he was the first to raise Four as if knowing it would get a rise out of you.

You whirl on the spot, eyes growing wide and pupils blown. “I _never_ suggested we leave Four! I ju– I just don’t know if this mission is a good idea is all?”

One sighed, squaring his shoulders before smoothing his hands down his turquoise scrubs. “Eight, if you had one shot, or one opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would capture it? Or just let it slip?”

You stare at One, blinking slowly as silence fills the room. “Is – Was that Eminem?” You stammer, shaking your head gently, as if to clear the fog which had settled there. Surely you were mistaken, One couldn’t be quoting Lose yourself, right?....

“Does it make it any better or worse knowing this isn’t the first time he’s used that as a motivational speech?” Seven grins, winking at you impishly.

“I think what makes it worse is knowing that no matter what reaction he got last time, he still decided to try it again!”

“Touché, and dude, get yourself a better speech already!” Seven smirks, patting One on the shoulder as he walks by and towards the kitchen. His uniform shirt half buttoned as he goes.

“Why does _everyone_ know that song straight away?” One groans, looking genuinely confused.

“Because it’s the bloody 2020’s! And not to hate on Slim or anything, but for the love of god, _replace_ your ipod shuffle, and listen to some new music. _Please_!” You plead, as the startling thought of One thinking lose yourself was a new song creeped its way into your mind, causing you to shudder.

Five steps out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam billowing out behind her. Looking like the absolute goddess she is, with her hair wrapped in a fluffy towel, and a robe concealing her, she fixes you with a strong look. “Eight. You are ready for this. Upon our first mission, we were all terrified. But we pulled through, one way or another we did what needed to be done, and look where we are now. I know what you’re feeling, we all do. We’ve all been there, trust me. But the only way this will work, the only way we will be able to get to the Lushnick’s, is if we stick together and work this mission just as we’ve planned. That means all of us. We can’t be a member short, not this time.” Without waiting for your response, Five walks away, closing a bedroom door behind her.

You have no response, no witty retort. Nothing. Not that it would matter, Five wasn’t there to hear it anyway.   
Chewing on your bottom lip, you turn back to One, who still looked somewhat put out by your ipod comment.   
“Has anyone seen my uniform?”

***** 

Just after 11am, Billy made his way to the hospital and into the Emergency department, cradling his head between his palms, and groaning in mock agony.  
His earpiece was safely tucked in his ear, providing him contact with his team. Contact which he had been severely missing these past few weeks. At first it had been bearable, what with your secret texts on your burner phone. But when One had arrived at the safe house, it had been harder to sneak messages, until finally they had ceased all together.  
But hearing your voice now, ringing through his ears, he felt like he was home. Despite walking into a hospital.

_“Genevieve Lushnick is on the move. Last seen leaving Ward 11A.” You advise everyone._

_“She finished her rounds in Paediatrics much earlier, not sure where she’s headed now.” Five recalls, the sounds of crying infants in the background of her voice._

_“Usually her roster would have her checking on Geriatrics in Ward 7B next. But She’s already been there. That was her second visit of the day.” Seven advises, though he sounds confused. To be fair, so does everyone else.  
Genevieve was changing up her routine, something she hadn’t done at all during their surveillance of her. So why now?_

_“Hold on, let me see if I can track her down through the live camera feeds.” You suggest, the sounds of your fingers flying across a keyboard breaking the silence which followed._

Billy’s concentration on the conversation happening in his ear is cut off by a woman dressed in white sat at the Emergency reception desk. A nurse from the looks of her.  
“Bonjour, comment puis-je vous aider?” She blinks wide amber eyes up at Billy, who stares back confusedly.

“Uh, En-English?” A part of him wants to chastise himself for not learning French for this mission. But knowing he was playing the part of a tourist he allowed himself some leeway in the preparation department.

The nurse smiles further, though the more teeth she shows the more forced it looks. “Of course. How may I help you today sir?”

“I just flew in a few days ago, and I have an awful headache. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. All lights are too bright, I feel weak, my head is pounding, and I feel nauseas.”

“Has this just begun, or is this an ongoing issue?”

“No, it just started this morning. I took a couple of paracetamol to help when I woke up, but they’ve done nothing.”

The nurse nods her head, looking down at her computer, as Billy adds in a groan for effect. Just as the nurse asks for personal details, One appears from the behind the desk.   
“Goodness, what’s wrong with this man? He looks like death on two legs!”

Billy repeats what he had just told the nurse, with One nodding along, and playing every part the good doctor. “You need to be seated immediately. _Someone_ , bring me a wheelchair!” One calls in the direction of the wardsmen who are stood around the waiting room.  
“Jennifer, you need to be more familiar with signs of a migraine. This young man, what was your name sir?”

“James.” Billy moans, falling back into the wheelchair once it appears behind him, laying his head back for added effect.

“Yes, James could have collapsed at any moment. Please be more mindful next time.” One warns, a harsh glare in his eyes directed at the young nurse.

“O-of course Doctor Cleavers. It won’t happen again.”

Billy can barley contain his smirk at the sound of One’s alias, covering his attempted chuckle with a well-timed groan.

_“Does anyone have eyes on Gregory?” Two whispers harshly into her earpiece, causing Billy to flinch slightly, just as one does the same. Christ, Two needs to keep her tone down!_

_It’s Three’s turn to respond first now, who sounds quite proud of himself as he speaks. “He’s up in theatres, doing God knows what to God knows who.” The sound of a trolley filled with rattling dishes being pushed, barely making his mumbled voice audible._

One moves around behind Billy, kicking up the brake on the wheelchair, and pushing him towards the swipe pass activated doors, leading to the Emergency treatment area. The deafening silence flowing through both his and Billy’s earpieces cause the two men to glance at each other nervously.

_“How long ago did you see Gregory heading to theatres?” You ask, an edge of worry hinting at your tone._

_Yet another long pause, until. “During breakfast rounds… I suppose two hours ago, maybe?” Three no longer sounds sure of himself, which sets in a sinking feeling in all those on the team._

_“He was scheduled to finish surgery one hour ago. Has anyone seen him this past hour?” You snap back, perhaps more of a bite in your words than you had intended._

_“Negative.” Replies One in a quiet voice, while smiling at fellow doctors as he pushed Billy._

_“No.” That was Two._

_“Nope.” Five now, who had been awfully quiet so far._

_“Neither.” Three mumbles, likely feeling as dejected as he sounded._

_“Well you know I haven’t.” Billy smirks. It was a risk him speaking to the group like this, but currently with his head tilted back, and staring up at the ceiling as he was being wheeled down a corridor, no one really paid any attention to him._

_“I’ve only seen Genevieve. The two haven’t been together all morning sorry.” Seven whispers._

_“Fuck me…” You breathe out, slamming your fists down on the desk. “I can’t see either of them on the live feeds!”_

Carefully, Billy lifts his head once again, turning over his shoulder to peer up at One, who was frowning and staring dead ahead. “Is there a problem Doctor Cleavers?” He mumbles, keeping the act up for anyone who may pass.

“There very well may be.” One mutters, only glancing down at Billy for a brief moment.

The two continue down the corridor for another few minutes, the bright clinical lights beginning to bring on a genuine headache for Billy now.   
Finally, they come to a stop in a large treatment room, multiple beds lining the walls, all encircled by blue curtains. Some had been drawn for patient’s privacy, while others remained opened. In the centre of the room was a large desk where Nurses and Doctors hurried to and from, collecting and depositing various prescriptions and clinical orders.  
“James, are you able to stand to bring yourself over to the bed?” One asks, raising his voice enough to somewhat put on a show for those nearby.

The temptation to ask One to pick him up is almost too great to pass up, but knowing that somehow it would come back to haunt him, Billy opts for standing himself. “I think I can manage, thank you Doc.”   
Standing slowly, Billy pivots on the spot, and shuffles over to the bed, hoisting himself up and laying back.

“We’ll need to bring your fluids up, I’m worried about you becoming dehydrated. We’ll need to cannulate you. Have you ever had a cannula before?” One asks, waving for a nurse to come and assist him.

“No, I don’t think I have.” 

“Not to worry, it’s relatively quick and painless.”

The nurse hurries over, and listens as One fires orders at him, orders which he had picked up from watching medical shows, mostly scrubs….  
“We need James on a drip ASAP, get that started now!”

“Right away Doctor Cleavers.” The nurse agrees, before moving off to grab the necessary equipment.

Billy turns his attention to One, raising his eyebrows in concern. “Are you _seriously_ going to stick a needle in me?” He hisses, emerald eyes flashing in fear.

One shrugs lightly, turning away from Billy to keep an eye out for the nurse. “Well, _I’m_ not going to be injecting you. Can’t say the same for the nurse though.”

Billy wants to scream, at _no_ stage during the briefings had there been _any_ mention of him having a needle jabbed into him! Hell, if there had been any discussions of such a thing, he likely would’ve backed out!   
Perhaps that was why there was no mention?  
The nurse reappears, and preps his work station, all the while One, or Doctor Cleavers stays around to supervise the proceedings, occasionally chiming in with his theories as to what the cause for his sudden pain could be.

_“Four! One! They’re coming!” Your voice breaks through the stinging sensation of the needle, panic flying through Billy’s veins. “The Lushnick’s! I finally found them on the cameras, they’re headed straight for-” Your voice is broken by puffing breaths, and the sound of your feet pounding on the tiles as you sprint from somewhere else in the hospital._

“Emergency.” Billy finishes, as the two people who he had been staring at photographs of for months now, strut into the treatment room, patients and doctors alike parting like the red sea as the couple head towards Billy and One. Four sets of eyes meet, and no member of either team is willing to break concentration.

“We’ve been expecting you.” Genevieve grins, her canine teeth almost too pointed, like fangs brushing against her ruby painted lips.

“Thank you, Eric, you’ve done a wonderful job here.” Gregory turns to the nurse and nods his head, the nurse returning the gesture and leaving the group.

_“Eight for Four, come in Four!” Your voice shouts in his ear, causing Billy to flinch away._

“Ah, that must be the rest of your team I take it? Not to worry, we have our people taking care of them as we speak.” Genevieve shrugs, before turning to One. “Seeing as you’re so good at playing Doctor, you’ll be pushing your friend. He won’t be awake much longer. I would hate for him to collapse.”

At these words, Billy shoots up on the bed, his head spinning as he does so. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Genevieve waves him off, her nails painted the same shimmering ruby as her lips. “Surely you don’t expect me to give away our secrets? That’s not how people like us work.”

One steps behind Billy’s bed, and begins driving it forwards, following behind the Lushnick’s with a scowl. Billy could see the wheels in his mind turning, as he tried to formulate a plan of escape, though from every way he looked at it, they were pretty well fucked. He could feel his body growing tired, and his mind becoming clouded and dazed, whatever they had given him, it was taking over his body quickly, and any minute now he would be useless to the team.

*****

Fuck!  
The entire team had lost the Lushnick’s!  
How did that even happen?  
Seven was supposed to be trailing them, he had been doing so every other day perfectly, but what the fuck had gone wrong today?  
Your fingers fly across the keyboard, frantically switching between all the cameras in the hospital. Some provided a live feed, while others only offered playback, but at this point in time you would take what you could get.  
Window after window pops open on your monitor, squinting at the slightly pixelated images to try and identify who was being filmed.

“There!” You practically scream, causing one of the guards walking past your office to jump, turning a concerned look your way. “Sorry, just uh – finally got a fly that’s been harassing me all morning.” You blurt out, though with a shrug, the guard walks on, either having bought the lie or not caring enough to question it further.  
You gaze back at the image on your screen, it was from one of the playback cameras. Both Gregory and Genevieve were spotted seven minutes ago in one of the staff only corridors, leading between the imaging department and emergency.  
“Seven minutes…. How long does it take to get there?”

_“Three! Come in Three!”_

_“Bloody hell, no need to yell Eight. What is it?”_

_“On your delivery route, how long does it usually take to get between X-ray and Emergency?”_

_Three pauses to think, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he does so. “Roughly twenty minutes.”_

_“We’re fucked.”_

_“What? What does that mean?!”_

You ignore the frantic questions streaming from Three, the others shortly joining in with their own confusion. But you didn’t have time to address their concerns, right now there was only one thing on your mind. Beating the Lushnick’s to the Emergency room.  
With your heart hammering in your chest, and breathing coming out in desperate gasps you turn back to your computer, snaking your way into the hospital power grid.

You know how to do this, it’s just like what you did for your museum heist way back when you had met One. But for some reason, your brain can’t seem to summon the image of what you need to do. You could try a keyboard smash now that you’re in the controls, but that could seriously damage literally everything…  
“Come on, just think dammit.” You snarl at yourself, clasping your hands into fists, and pressing them against your temples.

Eyes springing open, you fix a harsh glare at the blinking screen before you, asking for a password. “Y’all Lushnick’s are fucked.”   
The password it simple to guess, trust the Lushnick’s to use their fucking last name as a password. They may be smart in what they do, but they sure as hell know nothing about internet security.   
The screen turns black, with a 3D model of the hospital slowly building itself on your screen. With each scroll of your mouse, the model shifts, and enlarges to a new section of the hospital. A blinking blue bar in the top left of the screen offers a text space, and going on a hunch, you type in ‘Geriatrics’ and press enter. The model disintegrates into tiny pixels, before rebuilding just the section you had searched. “Brilliant…” You whisper to yourself.

The geriatrics ward of the hospital consisted of one main power source, with a backup which would boot up and provide energy to the most necessary equipment and lights in the event of the main grid failing.   
_“Five for Eight, come in?”_

_“Eight here, what’s going on?”_

_“I’m being followed. There’s security blocking off just about every exit on this floor, and no matter where I go, there’s someone behind me, or waiting for me.”_

_“Has anyone else got this issue?” You call out, eagerly awaiting replies.  
There’s a resounding yes in response, with the only discrepancy coming from Seven. _

_“A couple of guards caught up to me in 11B, they’ve brought me along to help catch the infiltrators.”_

_“So they don’t know you’re a part of this?”_

_“Seems like it. And from what I gather, they aren’t onto you either…”_

_“Perfect, Seven stay with your team. There’s about to be a Code Blue in geriatrics. I’ll put the call through to all security to get to the ward, that should give the rest of you time to escape. Rendezvous in Staff corridor D.”_

You don’t wait to hear the replies from your team, once again your body working quicker than your mind. Your hands already working on shutting down the power to the Geriatrics ward. You should feel worse than you do, you were putting innocent people’s lives at risk. But the one thing which had been drilled into you from the begging was, the team comes first wherever possible. It was Seven who insisted on this. But who were you to argue with him?

Your eyes are glued to your screen as you watch a warning light appear over the 3D model you had been working with. ‘WARNING! Main power grid will be turned off. WARNING!’  
It was rather polite of the system to warn you of the damage you were about to inflict, however the flashing red image did little to stop you.  
With one final mouse click, a new pop up appeared on your screen. This one somehow even more urgent, despite no red flashing lights. ‘WARNING! Main power grid for geriatrics has now been turned off. Back up system now operating.’   
An alarm was blaring throughout your office, warning you and all security who remained nearby of a system failure.   
“All units. Repeat, all units to Geriatric ward immediately. Power failure. All units report.” You instruct through the P/A system.” Instantly, you watch as two security guards’ race past your office, down the hall and towards the stairwell.

_“Five, have they gone? Can you get out?” You ask carefully, keeping your voice low in case of any security stragglers._

_“Yeah, they’ve all gone now. Jesus Eight, what kind of a system failure did you make?” You can hear her laughing now, though you know the doctor side of her is genuinely concerned as to what chaos you had caused._

_“Nothing that should cause any real harm, but it’s done the trick.” You smirk, locking your computer and stepping out of the office._

You knew the security alert wouldn’t deter the Lushnick’s, hell even if the building was on fire, you doubt they would stray from their current target. But if your calculations were correct, you still had at least five minutes to warn One and Four of their impending arrival. Your heavy combat boots pound against the tiles, sprinting your way towards corridor D, praying the others would already be there, or at least arriving soon.  
Pressing your index finger against your earpiece, your voice sounding frantic even to you.   
_“Four! One! They’re coming!”.  
_ They had time, they had to have time….. But with no response from either, you try again.  
 _“The Lushnick’s! I finally found them on the cameras, they’re headed straight for Emergency!”_

Nothing, not a single word from Four or One. This wasn’t right, they were supposed to have time still, plenty of time to get out of Emergency and meet you and the team. But as you round the corner to Staff corridor D, there’s no One, and sure as hell no Billy.  
“Thank God you got here alright!” Five gasps, running over to you and wrapping her arms around you.   
You had never known her to be much of a hugger, but you suppose high stakes situations like this could change a person.  
Checking over her shoulder you spot Three, Seven, and Two all talking amongst themselves.  
“Where’re Four and One?” You ask timidly, stepping away from Five’s embrace slowly, and looking between her and the rest of the team.

No one seems inclined to answer you, which only serves to send a deep chill down your spine, and for a solid mass to feel as if it had been lodged in your throat.  
Pressing on your earpiece again, you try calling for the two again.  
 _“Eight for Four and One, come in both of you.”_

There’s again no reply, and your heart feels like it’s being strangled.   
“I heard some of the guards talking. There was talk of a couple of intruders being found…” Seven begins, his dark eyes meeting yours, with a look which could only be described as true sympathy.

Sharp, electric static echoes through your teams ears, all earpieces but yours going haywire for five seconds, before silence once more. “What the fuck was that?” Three snarls, ripping the piece out and glaring at it between his large fingers.

An all too familiar voice speaks slowly now in your ear, but as you look around you realise this voice was only speaking to you. No one else could hear her.  
 _“Well, who do we have here. You’re not the Doctor, I would recognise her voice anywhere. And you’re obviously not the French one, unless you’ve managed to disguise your accent, which I truly doubt. So who are you…”_

_“I’m not playing any of your sick little games Genevieve. Where is the rest of my team?” You hiss, causing the others to look up and over to you._

“Eight? What’s going on?” Two asks carefully, stepping towards you slowly.

“Who are you talking to? Three asks, lifting his brows up.

_“Ah, see. There’s the French one! I knew you had to be someone else! Eight was it? Oh how interesting. So what, did another one of your team die? Is that why you’re here?”_

_“You have no idea what you’re talking about! I’m not someone’s replacement.”_

_“Oh aren’t you? Well that just makes this even more special then doesn’t it? Tell me, which one of these charming young men is Four who you seem so concerned about? Is it this ruggishly handsome tall fellow who keeps glaring at me? Or is it the pretty blonde, with the gorgeous green eyes, who’s having a hard time staying awake right now?”  
It’s an involuntary reaction, but at the mention of Four, your breath catches in your throat, causing a small gasp to escape your lips.  
“Ah, the blonde it is..”_

_“What have you done to him? What can’t he stay awake?”_

_“My my, so many questions! If you didn’t want anything to happen to him, then maybe you shouldn’t have used him a bait silly little girl!”_

_“Where the fuck is he?”_

_“I suppose I could tell you, it would be rather enjoyable to see the look on your face as we operate on him, while there’s nothing you can do about it…”_

You don’t wait to hear anymore, ripping the earpiece out and throwing it as far down the corridor as possible. “Theatres. The Lushnick’s have Four and One. They’re about to do something to Four.” You gasp out, barely able to catch your breath, as tears prick the backs of your eyes.

“Shhh, Eight it’s going to be fine, I promise.” Five offers, soothing her palm down your back gently.

“ _Don’t_ you dare make empty promises.” You growl, shaking her off and racing down the hall, towards the stairwell.

***** 

“What have you given him?” One growls, glaring between both the Lushnick’s and Four who lay on an operating table, barely moving and occasionally groaning. He rattled his arm against the handcuffs which kept him bound to a side railing. He was completely useless, both to himself and to his teammate.

Genevieve turned to him now, regarding him with a cold stare. “I hardly see why that matters now? You can’t do anything to help him, especially not in your current predicament.” She chuckles darkly, before turning her attention back to Gregory. The man barely spoke a word, but the sick sadistic smile which had been growing across his lips these past few minutes, was enough for One to get a better sense of his character.

“At least tell me what you’re going to do to him!” One tries again. He was running out of questions, and by the looks of things, time too. He had hoped he would be able to keep the Lushnick’s occupied long enough for you and the rest of the team to get here, but ever since Genevieve finished her conversation with you, she seemed all the more eager to get this started.

“Well that’s the fun part. Greg doesn’t know yet! Here’s how this works. Greg cuts the patient open, has a bit of a poke and prod around. Takes out what he wants, and then stitches ‘em back up! You never know what will be taken!” Genevieve grins, pressing a red kiss to Gregory’s cheek, who only grins broader.

One has to fight back to urge to both vomit, and throw punches, instead opting to glare at the duo. “You’re both sick, and you’re going to rot in hell once we’re through with you!”

Genevieve waves him off, turning her attention to Four, who was more unconscious than conscious now. Though he occasionally made a slight jolt, or mumbled a quiet sentence. “Should we wait until he is a bit more under before beginning the procedure?”

Gregory turned to her, lifting a brow in curiosity. “And risk the others getting here, before it’s too late for them to rescue him?”

Just as his words die off, a loud crash against the operating theatre door causes both Doctor’s to glance towards the sound.  
The crash was quickly followed by another, before a gunshot can be heard echoing throughout the circular room, the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground following.  
“Greg…..” Genevieve whispers, turning to the Doctor, as the double doors slam open. The metallic hingers screeching under the sudden movement.

“Where the _fuck_ is my boyfriend?” You scream, pistol raised, and aimed directly at Genevieve Lushnick. Seven and Three stand beside you, each holding a gun of their own, with Three aimed at the nurses in the theatre, and Seven poised to fire upon Gregory. Two and Five stand either side of them, aiming at the guards behind them who were writhing on the ground, though they both remained vigilant for any further arrivals.

Gregory lifts a scalpel and hovers it directly above Four’s abdomen, poised and ready to cut. “Ah, you must be Eight.” Genevieve grins, taking a careful step towards you, as Gregory lowers the scalpel closer to Four’s bare skin.

Seven aims at the wall just above where Gregory stands, the bullet ripping a hole in the sterile room, causing Gregory to jump back almost an entire foot. “Don’t even _think_ about trying that again.” Seven hisses, fixing the Doctor with a glare.

“Now now, there will be no need for violence.” Genevieve begins, before taking a look at the guards who were slowly bleeding out in the entry way. “At least, no _more_ violence that is.” She steps forwards again, fixing you with an interested eye. “My goodness you look familiar. Have we met before?”

“I’m positive I would recall meeting someone as wicked and vile as you.” You spit, keeping your pistol trained on your target, your eyes following her every step.

“Hm, yes I suppose so.” You were now engaged in an odd type of dance, Genevieve was slowly circling around you, and you followed her every move, moving in a circle on the spot. “This is where the negotiations begin, I imagine.”

“There will be _no_ negotiations. You tell us what you gave Four, you let him go, and we take you to the authorities who will make sure you both rot in a prison cell for the rest of your sorry lives.”

Genevieve shakes her head no, still walking in her slow circle around you. From an outside perspective, it was that of a lion circling its prey, though to your perspective, you had the upper hand. Or at least, _you_ had the weapon. “No, you see that doesn’t work for us.”

“Fine. You tell us what you gave Four, you let him go, and we kill you both right here, right now.”

Genevieve shakes her head again, looking over to Gregory who was clutching the scalpel for dear life.   
“Eight, something’s wrong…” One calls, looking over to Four. The young man was beginning to convulse on the operating table. His skin was flushed in tiny pinprick sized red dots, and his chest was rising and falling in rapid laboured breaths.

You chance a glance over to Four, and your heart stops. Something was horrendously wrong. “ _Five_ , go check on him!” You screech, turning your full attention back on Genevieve as Five races past you.  
In a split second, you pocket your gun in the back of your jeans, and lurch forwards, fists griping into the collar of Genevieve’s shirt.   
You hold the fabric with such ferocity the seams popping in her shirt is almost audible, but your blood is pumping too loudly in your ears for you to hear. “Tell me what you gave him!” You’re practically screaming now, directly in her face, yet Genevieve doesn’t seem phased at all. She was used to outbursts such as this, granted they were typically from a grieving mother or father, and not someone threatening her life, but none the less, it felt like just another day in the office.

“Not until we strike a deal!”

There’s only one thing running through your mind as your eyes lock onto Genevieve’s, the training fight you had had with Three all those months ago. Only this time, there was no one fighting back, you had the power.   
Your leg steps behind Genevieve’s left, and you sweep out with your entire weight, releasing her collar just as her knees gives way and buckle beneath her weight, and she crumbles to the ground bellow you, her back smacking the hard tiled floor with a crack.   
Instantly, you’re on top of her, kneeling down against her stomach and pinning her to the ground.

“You bitch!” She shrieks, coughing as she attempts to regain the breath you had knocked out of her, though with almost your entire weight leaning into her now, it was unlikely she would.

“I’m _terribly_ sorry. I guess I lost my footing.” You smirk, pressing your knee harder against her. Causing Genevieve to cry out in pain.

Gregory races forwards, his scalpel dropping to the ground in his haste. “Get off of her!” He calls, wrapping her palms over your shoulders and attempting to tear you away.

Three steps in, shoulder barging him in the stomach and sending the Doctor crashing to the ground beside his wife.

“Guys! I think Four’s having a severe allergic reaction to whatever concoction he was pumped full of!” Five yells, a stethoscope looped around her neck, as her frantic eyes meet yours. “Is he allergic to anything you know of?”

You stare back at Five, your mind going completely blank, you feel like a deer caught in headlights. Surely Four would’ve told you if he had any allergies, right? And perhaps he had done just that, but standing here now, with all hope resting on your shoulders, you couldn’t think of a single thing which may be useful in this situation. Shaking your head, a growing sense of dread filling you, as the rest of the team remain silent. “I- I don’t know….”

“I can give him an Epipen, but I need to know what he’s either had, or what he’s allergic to so I can get him the proper antidote!”

Tearing your eyes away from Five, you look over to One, who not only felt but looked entirely useless, chained to a handrail on the opposite side of the room. Your eyes searching his for an answer. Your mission was to capture the Lushnick’s, and right now, that was exactly what you had done.  
But if you kept them as they were now, as prisoners, Four could die….. Was that a sacrifice you were willing to make?

All One could offer was a gentle half smile, shrugging his shoulders slightly in his compromising position. He couldn’t offer you an answer, hell you couldn’t even offer yourself an answer….

Carefully, you release some of the pressure from Genevieve’s stomach, just enough for her to look up at you in surprise, blinking wide eyes up at you. “Tell me what you gave him, and we’ll let you both go.” You mutter, fighting back the urge to swallow back your own words.

A wicked smirk unravels over Genevieve’s lips. The kind of smirk which one would associate with a wicked stepmother, or evil queen from a Disney film. “Deal.”   
You release more pressure from your hold on her, until she can breathe properly once more, and Three steps away from Gregory, giving the man a swift boot to the hip just to make his point. “We gave him a combination of penicillin, general anaesthetic, codeine…” Genevieve stands, as does Gregory, both stepping backwards towards the door. Your team moving out of their way upon looking at you for clarification.  
No one wanted to move, that much was obvious in the frantic looks the others were throwing your way. But at the same time, they all knew the price they would have to pay if they kept the Lushnick’s as they were now. A price no one was prepared for.

“There was some paracetamol mixed in too….” Genevieve continues. They were at the doorway now, hand in hand, gazing behind themselves to make sure the way was clear. “Hm, what else?”

“Gosh, I just can’t recall.” Gregory shrugs, an evil smirk crawling its way over his lips. His eyes glowing with malice. “I simply have no idea what ese they’re may have been!” He calls with enthusiasm, before both pivot on the spot, racing from the theatre.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” You shriek, your sight going red as you sprint after them down the corridor, pulling your gun out as you give chase.  
Genevieve looks at you over her shoulder as they reach the stairwell, regarding you with a look of familiarity.

“ _Eight_! Eight, it’s not worth it!” Two yells from the doorway, watching you with a deep concern. She knew what you were capable of, your whole team did, but not the Lushnick’s. And from the looks of things, they didn’t care either.  
You stop halfway down the corridor, releasing the safety on your pistol and firing three shots at the door Gregory hand his hand pressed against. He jumps backwards in shock, glaring back at you, pure fury masking his features.

“Yes Eight, listen to your friend. She seems to be the brains of this group. We wouldn’t want you getting hurt now would we?” Genevieve snarls, baring too many teeth to be considered even remotely friendly.

Aiming the pistol once more, you line up your sights, finger hovering over the trigger. One shot, that’s all it would take. A bullet to the middle of Genevieve’s forehead would kill her instantly, and Gregory would have no choice but to surrender.  
“Are you going to kill me? Shall I say hello to _Kellie_ when I see her?”

You stare at Genevieve, her words ringing through your ears, and sending a jolt of shockwaves straight down your spine. In that moment of hesitation, the Lushnick’s push through the stairwell door, and flee.

You’re paralysed on the spot, staring after where the Lushnick’s had stood moments ago.  
They recognised you. They knew who you were and why you wanted revenge.  
But how?  
It had been years since you last saw them, you had been a child!  
Surely you looked different now from back then?  
But they _knew_ you!   
They remembered Kellie…  
A gun shot rings down the corridor, the sound of metal _clanging_ to the tiled floor following directly after.

“Eight! What happened?” One yells, now free of his handcuffs, and jogging down the corridor to meet you.   
You hadn’t moved. Still stood with your arms raised, and gun pointed to where Genevieve had stood.

“They – They _knew_ me.” You gulp, putting the pistol away with shaking hands, and turning to look up at One. Tears were brimming in your eyes, though you refused to let them fall. At least not yet.

“What? But how?”

“I don’t know! That’s the fucking problem.” You hiss, storming away from One back towards the theatre.  
Once back, chaos surrounded Four, with everyone racing around him handing various different equipment and medications to Five, as she prepped some kind of antidote perhaps.  
“How’s he doing?”

Five looks up at you, regarding you with a careful mix of sympathy and hope. “The EpiPen gave him enough adrenaline to wake up again, though he’s extraordinarily groggy. Now I’m just tyring to figure out exactly what to give him to counteract the other shit that’s pumping through him.”

You nod your head in thanks, knowing you would find the time to thank Five properly once all of this was over. “What can I do to help?”

“We need to try and keep him awake, he keeps coming in and out of consciousness.” Three replies, as he passes Five a vile of clear liquid.

“Four? Can you hear me?” You ask carefully, stepping over to him and squeezing his hand tightly. His warm fingers curl around yours in reply, before falling limp against your palm.

“He’s out again! Wake him up!” Five yells to those in the room.

“Four, stay with us!” You plead, pressing a soft kiss against his knuckles. To hell with anyone seeing the act of intimacy, if One wanted to give you shit for it, he could do so when you were all in the clear.  
Though checking the room, you can’t find One or Two for that matter, they must still be in the corridor where you had left them?

Slowly, Four blinked his eyes open, frantic emerald flickering around the room and searching for something, or someone. Just as his eyes landed on yours, they fell shut again, and his body spasmed once more.

“Four, god dammit! Keep your fucking eyes open!” It was Seven yelling this time, his voice booming above all other noises in the vast room.

“Four, please just stay with us a little longer! Five, how are you going with those injections?” You can hear the tears in your voice as you beg for him to open his eyes again, but they remain closed.   
Turning to look at Five, she looks frazzled. Her hair which had started in a neat, slicked back bun, was now hanging loose down her back, and was wild with frizz.  
She looks up at you, not quite in a glare, but with enough ferocity behind the look that you know better than to bother her anymore.

Leaning down, you card your fingers through Four’s blonde curls, brushing away a few stray locks which were plastered to his forehead with sweat.  
Barely more than a slit, his eyes open and stare directly up at you. _  
_“Billy, please just keep your eyes open for me. You’re going to be fine, I swear.”

Three looks over at you, his ears perking up at the use of his teammates real name. It was one thing to use names in privacy back home. But during a mission, however failed that mission may be, now that was new.  
Shaking his head, he spots One and Two heading over, but with grim looks on their faces.   
“What’s the plan?” Two asks, her eyes locking with Three’s.

“There isn’t one, not really. We just need to keep him awake.” Five sighs. “I think I know what to give him to help, but I want him awake when I administer it. If it works correctly then it should knock him out for a bit. If he’s already unconscious when I give it to him, then I won’t know if it’s doing more harm than good.”

One turns his attention over to you now, lifting one brow as you meet his gaze. “Any idea what will keep him awake?”

You pause, clutching Four’s hand tightly, and staring blankly at One. “Trivia. He loves random trivia facts!” You blurt out after a beat of pause. _  
_All eyes turn to you in surprise, no one quite knowing how to respond to this information. You shrug lightly, averting your gaze from One’s. “We play a lot of trivial pursuit back at base.”

Seven is the first to break the silence, though not to mock you as you had thought would be the case. Instead, he looks down at Four. “Hey mate, did you know high heels were originally invented for men. Imagine Three chasing down the Lushnick’s in stilettos.” He laughs, which causes Four to stir slightly, his eyes opening just a tad.

“Fuck, you’re right. That did work.” One blinks in surprise, running a hand through his short hair.

“Of course it did. I know Four, I know what works on him.” You mutter quietly.

Without looking up, Five smirks to herself. “You sure do kid.”

There’s no fighting the embarrassment which claws within you. Perhaps now wasn’t the time to be making suggestive comments…  
“Alright, keep ‘em coming guys!”

“Um okay…. Uh, Canada has more lakes than anywhere in the world.” Seven offers unsurely.

“Those greedy fucks….” Four moans, causing everyone to pause, before laughing quietly. Good, his sense of humour was still intact, that’s surely a good sign!

Two steps closer, and looks down at Four in deep concentration, before leaning back slightly. “David Bowie, he did not in fact have two different coloured eyes. One of his pupils was permanently dilated after he was punched in the eye during an argument over a girl.”

“Bugger me, really?” Five pipes up, both brows raised in surprise. “I always thought he had one blue and one brown eye.” She shrugs, priming a syringe carefully.

Slowly, Four was waking up. Granted he wasn’t exactly moving very much, but his eyes were opening, and he was grinning somewhat at the facts that were being thrown at him.

Staring down at Billy, something pops into your mind, a fact which you had learnt years ago at school but never shared with anyone else. “Okay, here’s one for you. Madonna’s like a prayer, is actually not about praying, it’s about giving someone a blowjob!”

Silence follows, and you swear you could hear crickets chirping. “Why the fuck is that something you know?” Four groans quietly, his eyes searching all over your face, before finally meeting your own.

“Shit, I don’t know… I also didn’t think that would be the fact that would wake you up the most! I was hoping someone else would say something after me!” You grumble through a grin.

“Nothing could possibly beat that fact.” Four chuckles weakly, squeezing your hand as tightly as he could muster.

Five turns around, holding a full syringe in her right hand, and a sterile swab in the other. “Glad you’re awake. What I’m about to give you however, is going to send you right back to sleep. Sorry about that. But I assure you, next time you wake up, you’re going to feel amazing.” She grins, ripping open the swab, and swiping it over the inside of his elbow.

For the second time that day, Four winces in pain as a needle plunges through his skin. Squeezing his eyes shut against both the sight of the injection, and the stinging pain.   
Whatever Five had given him was fast acting, and soon enough Four finds it nearly impossible to reopen his eyes now that he’s closed them.

“Move him into the wheelchair there, it’ll be easier than carrying him out of here.” You suggest, pointing to the blue cushioned wheelchair in the corner of the room.

One, Three and Seven all nod their agreement, and move around the operating table, getting into position to lift Four. “Count of three…. One, two, three.” Three instructs, as the men lift Four who simply groans in protest.   
You watch his limp body be carried across the room, your heart aching at the sight.  
‘It could be worse… He’s just asleep.’ You repeat to yourself, once again fighting back the tears which had remained ever present at the corners of your eyes.

Three pushes the wheelchair as you all follow in a daze. Your mind felt as if it were a million miles away from the current situation.  
For the briefest of moments, you had genuinely considered murdering Genevieve. Never once had you thought yourself capable of doing such a thing. But yet, there you had been. Gun poised, and trigger finger rearing to go. If it hadn’t of been for her words, then she would be dead…  
  


The escape route was an easy one, especially with security still trying to figure out what had gone wrong on the geriatrics ward still.  
Swiping the keys to an ambulance at the docking bay, you load Four inside the back with Five to monitor him. One drives, Three and Two sitting beside him up the front. While you and Seven sit quietly in the back. Occasionally your focus returns to Four, but mostly you stare out of the back windows, watching as traffic zips around you.  
You nearly _killed_ someone today…   
What sort of a person were you becoming?  
And did you even like the person you were turning into?


End file.
